Pubdate: Thu, 01 Dec 2005
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2005 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Ricardo Artunduaga
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

LEGALIZE THE SALE OF DRUGS

Once again Toronto is rocked by a murder committed with a gun fired by a youth.

Once again we hear statements from politicians saying that new 
measures must be taken to diminish this new wave of violence.

Once again the police union pleads its case for more officers to join 
the force.

Once again alarms go off in the communities most affected by this barbarity.

Once again mothers are in despair, feeling powerless, asking 
themselves where they went wrong.

Once again, educators propose a return to segregated schools as a 
long-term solution.

And, once again, the people directly concerned say very little out of 
fear of being the next victims in this ongoing bloodbath.

But has any leader dared to say clearly that one of the main reasons 
for all of these killings is the criminalization of drugs?

Of course not. No one mentions this because, in this age of political 
correctness, no one dares to face sobering truths. Everyone preders 
to speak from a perspective that is less painful for listeners.

But isn't it about time we asked ourselves as a society if it is 
worthwhile to maintain the absurd policy of criminalizing drugs?

Is it worth continuing with the wall of silence trying to hide 
something that is an obvious fact?

Have any of us seen a murder in Canada caused by people trying to 
battle it out for the control of the alcohol or tobacco business?

Behind this recent wave of violence, the hand of the drug underworld 
is visible. The drug market, with its immense and inflated profits, 
always will represent a means of escape for those people society has 
left behind.

And it is a hypocritical society that, on one hand, condemns the 
murder of its younger members while, on the other, maintains the 
status quo by not coming up with serious alternatives to solve the problem.

It is very likely that, with the community's assistance, some of the 
individuals responsible for the recent shootings could be captured 
and brought to justice, because the same community that produces the 
dead also knows where the murderers are. It's also likely that 
someday the police will show us the faces of the perpetrators of the 
current wave of violence, but that will not get to the root of the problem.

It simply will extinguish the people's wrath for a while. Amnesia 
will return to our newspapers and our newscasts until new actors 
appear on the stage, new youngsters made into men by force, willing 
to put their lives in jeopardy for a piece of paradise here on Earth, 
for the joys of consumerism that their families are unable to provide.

The politicians will go back to blaming each other, the mothers will 
continue to blame themselves and the educators will rethink 
alternatives to solve a problem that has only one definite solution.

Enough hypocrisy, enough temporary solutions. It's time for a 
definite solution: The legalization of the sale and consumption of 
drugs -- with strict controls by the state. This would finish the 
gangs and their wicked influence over our most vulnerable citizens.

How long will we remain blind to this reality?

This is the only way to get to the root of the problems caused by the 
criminalization of drugs.

I grew up in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of one of the world's 
most violent cities, where three of my school friends were murdered, 
along with one of my teachers and one of my childhood friends.

Years later, I became a prosecutor and my job consisted of putting 
killers through the judicial system. You could say that I know this 
story from both sides: I was a victim of marginalization and attended 
too many funerals without understanding why we were killing each other.

I had the enormous advantage of realizing before it was too late that 
easy money was nothing but a mirage and took charge of my education 
as the only way out of a lost childhood.

In the two years that I was a prosecutor, I was assigned to 
investigate at least 40 homicides and was a helpless witness to the 
moral degradation of my society. I don't want my Canada to look like 
the country I left behind.

We still have time to straighten our treacherous path, no more 
Band-Aid solutions, no more "exhaustive investigations" and no more 
politically correct answers.

It is time to question the roots of this violence.

And despite the lack of social services, despite the budget cuts of 
the 1990s, despite the negative role models -- despite all of this -- 
there is above all the stupidest policy human beings have ever 
devised, the most absurd decision ever made by politicians all around 
the world: the criminalization of drugs.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman