Pubdate: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 Source: Mirror (CN QU) Copyright: 2006 Communications Gratte-Ciel Ltee Contact: http://www.montrealmirror.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/267 Author: Colin CANNABIS AND CONSERVATISM The impetus for increasing the war on drugs in Canada is obviously coming from the U.S. In 2004, there were 1,745,712 total arrests for drugs, and 771,605 were for cannabis alone. There were 684,319 arrests for cannabis possession. This is a wholesale waste of police and government resources just to police freedom of choice. They have escalated a war upon otherwise law-abiding and peaceful citizens. If prohibition actually was effective, would not the numbers of arrests be decreasing? Rather than making drugs less available, it seems the reverse is true. Drugs are so popular now that nearly one million Americans per year have to be arrested, perhaps incarcerated, and wholly fleeced by the cost of so-called justice. All the while there are states legalizing cannabis for medical use or making cannabis laws the lowest priority. Why would any sane person want to import such obviously flawed policies? The Conservatives may attempt to placate Washington by cracking down on cannabis in Canada, but they are only succeeding in demonstrating their true lack of backbone to stand up against the incursion of the narco-fascist police state and undermining our sovereignty by over-reliance upon the U.S. market. Would they have made the same arguments for past injustices where Canada differed in its policies from the U.S.? The fact that the police admit they have been investigating since 2004 only indicates the Liberals' lack of sincerity in their so-called attempt at cannabis law reform. Same game, different faces. Oh Canada... oh brother! COLIN - --- MAP posted-by: SHeath(DPF Florida)