Pubdate: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 Source: Packet & Times (CN ON) Page: A7 Copyright: 2007, Osprey Media Group Inc. Contact: http://www.orilliapacket.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2397 Author: Steve Bennett END DRUG PROHIBITION, READER URGES Letter to the editor: The need for more police officers in Orillia sounds like something any good citizen would want - at first. John Chalmers recommends more officers to fight robbery, domestic violence and drugs. Again, these sound like very noble causes worth paying more taxes for. However, with any problem we must address the root cause of the problems. In the case of drugs and robbery, the cause is almost always prohibition. Current federal policies in Canada affect our local reality in a very direct way. The Conservatives are very clear that they want to be tough on drugs - period. United States drug "czar" John Walters's praise of the Conservatives last week in Ottawa proves that we are sadly going down the path of the U.S. DEA-style drug war, which has been an abject failure on every level. Despite spending billions per year for decades, the war on drugs has not reduced supply or use. Just like in the 1920s with alcohol, prohibition drives the price of drugs sky high and causes violent turf wars between criminals over distribution and supply. Biker gangs and Asian gangs reap enormous revenue from prohibition by setting up cannabis grow houses. Without prohibition, grow houses would end immediately and these gangs would lose an enormous amount of their funding. As well, a large portion of robberies are committed to fund expensive drug habits. If our police were not so tied up wasting resources on prohibition, they could be fighting the real crimes such as rape, murder, etc. We must not lock people up for drugs as the U.S. does. Prisons must not become a growth industry in Canada as it has in the U.S. Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) are saying this and our leaders should be listening. Cops who have "been there, done that" are starting to come out of the woodwork and tell us about the game of drug enforcement and how it has only made drug dealers rich. Countries such as the Netherlands have not seen rampant abuse nor has their society disintegrated because of their drug tolerance. Canada needs to move forward with progressive policies such as those in Holland, not bowing to American right-wing pressure. Following John Walters is a recipe for more violence, more cost to the taxpayers and ultimate failure. The people who want drugs will always get them. Prohibition did not work for alcohol and it has not worked for any drug, from cannabis to heroin. In 2002, our own Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs recommended legalization of cannabis, yet this has not happened. Intense pressure from the DEA in the U.S. is one reason for this. We need to work on all levels of government to ensure that we do not follow the U.S. drug war. We need to lead in North America and legalize all drugs, and work with people in ways such as safe injection sites which are proven to work and reduce crime. Orillia's problems are not unique. Prohibition needs to end. Steve Bennett - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom