Pubdate: Thu, 21 Jul 2011 Source: Kamloops Daily News (CN BC) Copyright: 2011 Kamloops Daily News Contact: http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/679 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) DRUGS: ILLEGAL FOR A REASON The call for the legalization of drugs is getting louder, based on the presumption that if we can't eradicate drugs, the solution must be to accommodate them. The arguments are sometimes persuasive, if not for their logic, then at least for their strength of conviction. But the arguments never explain why we haven't yet solved the myriad problems of drinking and driving, drinking and rioting, drinking and picking a fight, or drinking and beating a spouse. So how would society fare with other forms of inebriation and impairment? Are we naive enough to think it wouldn't be an issue? The idea of thousands or millions more people tripping through life under the influence of an increasing array of mind-altering substances leaves us cold. Surely, there is a measure of insanity in thinking that the widespread warping of our thought processes won't cost us more lives and immeasurable heartache. And it's a pipe dream to think that we could control the supply and demand of drugs once they are legal. We already have a monstrous hydra of a problem with people addicted to prescription drugs. How does that happen? Then there's contaminated toothpaste and pet food from China. Plus multiple recalls of foods and drugs in spite of extensive regulations and monitoring. As for the complaint that governments waste massive fortunes fighting a losing battle, drug-enforcement agencies -- the RCMP and the numerous government branches in the U.S. -- reap massive fortunes when they confiscate the property of convicted drug dealers. Real estate, luxury homes, exotic automobiles, boats, ships, yachts, aircraft -- the list is long and the recouped cash is astronomical. The government doesn't brag about it, but that big money goes straight into government coffers. Illegal drugs are illegal because they are too dangerous and unpredictable to be controlled even by a diligent government. Meanwhile, organized crime will develop more exciting, more addictive drugs outside government guidelines. And how easy would those drugs be to peddle to a much broader base of potential customers already accustomed to messing willingly with their own heads? Someone has to think straight in this matter, and society as a whole is not prepared to surrender that responsibility to those who advocate living stoned, full-or part-time. Legitimate medical marijuana use aside, we say being stoned is the best way to think that legalizing drugs is a good idea. Advocates will continue to point to Holland's liberal drug and prostitution laws, implying a wonderful success story. We say the Holland that once produced one of the world's most-powerful navies and some of the world's most daring explorers, and magnificent artists and musicians who are still revered hundreds of years later . . . the Holland that became a prosperous nation built on land that would have succumbed to the sea centuries ago were it not for the hard work, inventiveness and determination of the Dutch -- that Holland hasn't been heard from for a very long time. We wonder where that Holland went. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom