In a recent story, Cpl. Carey Chernoff, head of the RCMP drug unit in Kelowna, opines that "There always seems to be something tying our hands, and we have to find a way around it." That something is called the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and I don't believe it's appropriate for police officers to be speaking publicly about getting around it, though they, I suspect, do it often enough in private. Chernoff should check out the Law Enforcement Against Prohibition website and educate himself as to what his peers who don't belong to his church are saying, I'm sure I'm not alone in indicating that I'd rather see every Canadian adult smoking marijuana every day than to live in a police state society. George Kosinski, Gibsons [end]
To the editor: Re: Mountie's Efforts Applauded, Sept 11 Capital News. A doctor and a police officer conducting "research projects and behaviour modification studies" to stop teenagers from using marijuana. This is disturbingly reminiscent of Nazi officers and doctors researching and experimenting on captive Jews, gypsies and homosexuals, as well as Alexander Solzhenitsyn's novel, Cancer Ward, about doing time in mental hospitals in the USSR as the result of being selected for "re-education" to correct wrong political views. [continues 173 words]
Re: Vic Toews' comments regarding Marc Emery's extradition (The News, Aug. 26). He knows bloody well that it's extremely unlikely the Canadian government will officially legalize the sale of marijuana seeds in the next few months, so he offers a solution that he'll never be challenged to implement. Perhaps even stronger evidence of Toews' moral position is his comparison of Emery's situation to phone scam artists bilking Americans from phones in Toronto. He asks, "Why should we grant these people protection? [continues 71 words]
Re: Government is not serious about tackling crystal meth, Paul Willcocks, Aug. 26 Paul Willcocks made some excellent points, especially in highlighting the fact that we can't claim to be serious about combatting crystal meth until we have adequate detox and treatment. I would add that we can't claim to be serious about helping addicts choose less damaging drugs until we offer real drug education in our schools. "Drug education" programs such as DARE, which essentially make no important distinctions between marijuana and hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine, are not only intellectually fraudulent propaganda campaigns (what further evidence do we need than the fact they are taught by police officers instead of teachers?). They also contribute to the problem by insisting marijuana is addictive, leaving teenagers who use it totally unprepared for the nightmare of real addiction to heroin, crack or crystal meth. George Kosinski Gibsons [end]
Gerard MacMullin chastised Gwynne Dyer for his "blame the victim" mentality, but isn't this the mentality that Bush and Blair use to justify bombing raids, missile attacks, and mass murder: that the victims brought it upon themselves by failing to be adequately cooperative? MacMullin's assertion that "Britain, the U.S., and Israel do not deliberately target civilians" is false. The U.S. is well known for the most egregious deliberate assault on civilians in human history, the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, not to mention the firebombing of Dresden, the mass slaughter of Native American civilians, the burning of thousands of Vietnamese civilians with napalm and the massive incidence of birth defects caused by Agent Orange, and the attacks with heavily armed gestapo units on legal medical-marijuana farmers in California. As British journalist John Pilger pointed out, "Only by recognizing the terrorism of states is it possible to understand, and deal with, acts of terrorism by groups and individuals which, however horrific, are tiny by comparison." Someone once described the U.S. as "this vast mad horror that doesn't know its size, or its strength, or its weakness, or its barbaric speed, stupidity, din, self-righteousness, this cancerous Babylon." Was it a crazed, freedom-hating Muslim terrorist? Well, no. It was the poet Dylan Thomas. Utah Phillips says that the long memory is the most radical idea in America. I hope that isn't also the case in Canada. George Kosinski Gibsons [end]
With respect to the ominous increase in police power occasioned by the mass surrender of civil rights outlined in the Aug. 8 article "Farmers' deal lets police get weed early," the Surete du Quebec seems to be the only police force left in Canada that doesn't realize the killing in Mayerthorpe, Alta., of four RCMP officers was not the result of a "pot raid." I would advise police officers in Quebec to read newspapers or watch television news, as educating themselves might prove beneficial. [continues 105 words]
Pot Laws - Re: "Canada should nix U.S. extradition bid," Danielle Smith, Opinion, Aug. 6. As an American who moved to Canada many years ago, I appreciate those who insist on treating Canada as a different country rather than another state. DEA boss Karen Tandy's overconfident boast that "drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on," fails to take into consideration that the DEA itself relies on huge financial resources to conduct its activities and that it, along with all other U.S. government departments that specialize in attacking people who have chosen to self-medicate, will run out of money before we run out of time. While DEA agent Rod Benson will not be pleased to hear this, the reality is many people regard abuse of others as a more serious offence than "abuse of the rule of law." George Kosinski, Gibsons, B.C. [end]
RE "Video highlights tragic result of toking, driving," (May 18):I don't understand why RCMP Chief Supt. Raf Souccar claims that debate over the decriminalization of pot doesn't help because it creates a misconception that marijuana is a safe drug and can be used while driving, a clever conjunction that will slip by most readers. I suppose decriminalization would, indeed, help to create the impression that marijuana is a safe drug but, since it actually is safer than at least 80% of pharmaceutical drugs as well as alcohol and tobacco, that impression is hardly a misconception. [continues 69 words]
The otherwise -- presumably -- intelligent principal, Anthony Scarfone, has decided to punish every kid in his school who wants to play basketball because one of the (parent) coaches has a 23-year old conviction for possession of a joint? (Jan. 26, the Post) Looks like another case of "reefer madness". George Kosinski, Gibsons, B.C. (By e-mail) [end]
It's not possible in a short letter to adequately address the egregious errors and intellectual dishonesty displayed by Dr. Ray Baker in Gail Johnson's article "Doctor Draws on Past to Treat Addictions" [Jan. 27-Feb. 3], though I could mention that his insistence on continuing to embrace the discredited "gateway theory" and his claim that marijuana is addicting suggest he is in the wrong profession. His parroting of the claim that a marijuana user is 84 times more likely to become a cocaine user can only be described as grasping at straws, and his convoluted efforts to piggyback marijuana onto the dangers of tobacco, as well as his refusal to acknowledge a distinction between the effects of drugs and the effects of drug prohibition, are deplorable--and doubly so coming from a health-care professional rather than the law-enforcement industry, which garners billions in profits from the criminalization of self-medication with drugs not controlled by the pharmaceutical industry. [continues 94 words]
Editor, The Echo; Re: Pot, cons and pilferers This story brings to mind the Blue Meanies from the Beatles movie, The Yellow Submarine. The primary task of the Blue Meanies seemed to be making sure that nobody was having any fun. Uninvited and violent armed groups crashing parties where the most serious offence is having a good time is hardly in keeping with the spirit of Christmas or New Year's celebrations. Perhaps the police should consider reducing or eliminating their boorish behaviour, or at least restraining themselves until the holidays are over, while civilians might consider reflecting on the possibility that victimless "crimes" should not be tolerated in a democratic society. Meanwhile, a woman gets raped in Canada what - about every nine seconds? Those of us who do not look forward to living in a totalitarian society can only ponder with dismay the lack of progress since Paul Krassner issued the following warning over 15 years ago: [continues 79 words]
U.S. authorities don't issue alarming warnings about Canadian beer having higher alcohol content than American beer. Without considering the accuracy of claims that "B.C. bud" is more potent than U.S. marijuana or 60's hippie bud, one has to ask why the criticism for being too potent is reserved for the most benign recreational drug -- marijuana George Kosinski Gibsons, B.C. [end]
Re: Police chief targets Hells Angels, Aug. 21 I have to sympathize with Vancouver Police Chief Jamie Graham. Life must be hard when the rest of the world doesn't hate the Hells Angels as much as you do. According to The Sun, Chief Graham opined that the Hells Angels have been romanticized, but they are an organized crime group that often resorts to violence to intimidate people. Perhaps that's true. However, one could just as well say the Vancouver police department has been romanticized, but is a group that often resorts to violence to intimidate people. Does that mean all police officers are "rats?" [continues 101 words]
In the September 4-11 letters section, Art Steinmann, executive director of Alcohol-Drug Education Service, referred to a long list of dead musicians who used drugs. The list he refers to is actually impressively short, considering the touring lifestyle that seems to encourage excessive drug use among musicians, but, more to the point, I challenge Steinmann to name one musician who died from taking ecstasy, LSD, or magic mushrooms. Steinmann rightly points out that these substances can create problems when used by teenagers in the absence of proper context, ritual, and adult role models. Yet he offers no solutions to address this deficiency, a surprising omission for someone purporting to be an educator, at least until one discovers the paucity of educational resources and links on his organization's Web site. During the 50 years his organization has been in existence, one would think it would have, at the very least, stumbled upon Robert Julien's A Primer of Drug Action, an essential guide for laypersons interested in educating themselves and their children about the effects of drugs. On the other hand, perhaps that is expecting too much from an organization whose board of directors includes Kathy Tait, the infamous Province journalist of a few years ago who specialized in hysterical, ill-informed diatribes against marijuana. [continues 210 words]
Sir, Jade Bell's story (Oct. 25 Record) is a heartbreaking account of the serious dangers associated with the lack of quality control and dosage control connected with the purchase of heroin and other illegal drugs. If Jade could have obtained a legal dose every day at a certified clinic, as he could have in several European countries, he never would have suffered this horrible fate. It seems the message we are sending to our children is that, if you insist on using drugs our politicians disapprove of, we are determined to maintain the maximum possibility of your suffering serious harm from doing so. How many of us parents love legislation more than we love our children? George Kosinski [end]
