In approaching Errol Morris's "My Psychedelic Love Story," it doesn't hurt to have some familiarity with "Wormwood," the 2017 Netflix docudrama miniseries. In it, the fabled documentarian told the story of Frank Olson, a CIA employee who mysteriously fell to his death in 1953 nine days after being slipped LSD as part of an agency experiment. Was he pushed or did he jump? Was hippie socialite Joanna Harcourt-Smith being used as a CIA tool when her boyfriend, Timothy Leary, became a government informant in the mid-'70s? And what in the world is the connection? [continues 469 words]
Dear Editor, I am a criminologist who came to Guyana for 10 days last month to visit friends in the Corentyne area. I am also a speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) which is an international group of current and former peace officers who are dedicated to drawing attention to the devastating consequences of drug prohibition. I made several observations during my trip which do not bode well for Guyana's efforts to control the global drug trade. Although we thoroughly enjoyed our time with the Guyanese people, there were two events which we found quite disturbing. Both involved being stopped on the Rupert Craig Highway by heavily armed men. Had it not been for our driver who quickly identified them as military personnel or, on the second occasion, as police officers, we had no way of knowing that the intervention was legally sanctioned. [continues 412 words]
To the Editor, Re: Police seize cocaine, cash in drug arrest, Jan 17. The recent seizure of drugs and weapons by Nanaimo RCMP does nothing to disrupt supply and won't prevent more illicit drugs from entering the city. The largest drug seizure in Canadian history took place in 2000 when 100 kilograms of heroin was confiscated in Vancouver's port. Subsequent research published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in 2003 showed that contrary to law enforcement predictions, the price of heroin actually dropped in Vancouver. A seizure of this magnitude had no impact on supply. [continues 176 words]
To the Editor, Re: Pot legalization gets support from municipal reps, April 26. I agree with Mayor John Ruttan's recent comment that young people should not smoke, whether it's cannabis or tobacco. However, if they do choose between the two, I hope it's a decision which does not include them among the 40,000 Canadian deaths which occur annually. According to Health Canada, fewer and fewer young people have started smoking over the past decade. This change in national behaviour was accomplished through education and the regulation of tobacco products, and not by threatening smokers with arrest, criminal records, or imprisonment. [continues 103 words]
To the Editor, Re: B.C. public health officers behind taxing, legalizing marijuana, Jan. 3. The Health Officers Council of British Columbia has taken a bold step by urging political leaders to take control of the cannabis trade. Organized crime now has a monopoly on a $7-billion clandestine trade which spawns violence, murder and unsafe communities. Every objective outcome measure shows us how badly prohibitionist policies have failed to reach their declared goals. Today, marijuana is stronger in potency, more widely used by young people, and easier to obtain despite decades of repressive laws and enforcement tactics. [continues 166 words]
Four Vancouver ex-mayors currently advocate the end of laws which create networks of criminal organizations that use violence and intimidation to conduct their trade. Nearly 70% of B.C. residents believe that our current crime control policies are ineffective. The message is clear - it's time to legalize the possession, cultivation and distribution of marijuana. Marijuana has never been a serious health concern, nor has law enforcement had any lasting impact on its availability. Recent Canadian research shows the criminalization of marijuana creates and sustains violence between criminal organizations. [continues 204 words]
Four Vancouver ex-mayors currently advocate the end of laws which create networks of criminal organizations that use violence and intimidation to conduct their trade. Nearly 70% of BC residents believe that our current crime control policies are ineffective. The message is clear: it's time to legalize the possession, cultivation and distribution of marijuana. Marijuana has never been a serious health concern, nor has law enforcement had any lasting impact on its availability. Recent Canadian research shows the criminalization of marijuana creates and sustains violence between criminal organizations. [continues 217 words]
Re: "Legal drugs and gangs," July 1. The editorial on the failed "war on drugs" is music to the ears of the criminal justice professionals who make up Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. We know, from personal experience, that prohibition enriches criminal gangs and fosters criminal activity while doing nothing to reduce drug use and the attendant violence in our cities. Forty years of the so-called "war on drugs" in North America has actually increased the supply and potency of illegal drugs. Countries which have removed criminal penalties for drug use, such as the Netherlands and Portugal, have achieved declines in use and addiction. [continues 131 words]
There is no fairness in this article, just as there is no fairness in the current Marijuana Medical Access Regulations. As medical marijuana producers and users, we are forced to deal with such heavy-handed RCMP tactics every day. We are forced to watch the media report one-sided RCMP "reviews" as if they were the truth. The truth is that the current MMAR is a poorly planned program that was originally executed in bad faith by the government of Canada. The system is so terribly flawed and discriminatory that I no longer wish to be a part of it. Carl John Anderson, Kamloops, B.C. [end]
Editor: Re: Front-page article, May 31 ('Shadow squad'): Police states like Stalinist Russia used these methods on dissidents. Do we really want government agents pounding on doors at all hours and breaking down doors with sledgehammers and battering rams? Ignorant citizens start informing on anyone who doesn't meet their particular social, political, religious or moral/ethical precepts. Add to this the indoctrination of students to the police state, monitoring homeless people and watching everyone on the downtown streets for any indication they may be a criminal, child molester or the worst crime in perverted capitalistic society - begging for money. [continues 129 words]
In a 2003 report for Canada's Department of Justice, criminologist Thomas Gabor reviewed the research which assesses domestic and international efforts to control organized crime. He found that most crime-control efforts are justified by anecdote, the plural of which does not constitute data. According to Gabor, the least effective means for dealing with organized crime include prosecuting organized crime leaders, legislation to control money-laundering, seizing assets obtained by crime and trying to reduce the supply of illegal goods and services through interdiction and enforcement. The research tells us that the worldwide supply of drugs is largely unaffected by enforcement tactics and gangs will fight over drug distribution networks. [continues 157 words]
I recently received a one-page brochure from the federal Conservatives asking me, "Who do you think is on the right track on crime?" I'd like to answer that question for myself, but first I need more information. The flyer states "the Conservative government will clean up drug crime," followed by a list which includes: "Punish drug pushers with more jail time, Keep junkies in rehab and off the streets, Crack down on cross border drug smuggling." How much will it cost Canadians to increase the sentences of "drug pushers?" Will the increased jail time make Canadians safer? Can the Conservatives provide research evidence showing that increasing prison sentences for traffickers results in fewer drug crimes? [continues 137 words]
Last Thursday's newspaper had a story about an event in Yuba City ("Heroin sales help with bail?" May 29) that was terrible in too many ways. Unfortunately, thinking that the YC arrests are "an end to the heroin problem" is as naive as thinking that the guy getting a roadside ticket represents "the end of speeding." Back in 1982, President Reagan officially declared the War on Drugs, with the promise of a drug-free America by 1995. I wonder how the war on drugs can ever be won while there's so much money to be made. [continues 63 words]
Re: "Woman's body found" (news article, May 10). The circumstances surrounding the disappearance and death of Rachel Morningstar Hoffman truly make me angry. This young woman didn't have to die. Yes, she had made some bad decisions that got her in trouble with the law. However, common sense dictates that dealing marijuana shouldn't be an offense that gives a law-enforcement agency the right to put one's life at risk. Rachel Hoffman may have agreed to assist the Tallahassee Police Department in a sting operation against those who are now suspected of killing her. But - and this is a very large but - it was incumbent upon the TPD to not place her in a position where she could be seriously injured or killed. Her death is a direct result of the fact that they involved her in this operation and then failed to adequately provide for her protection. If she were my daughter, I would hold the TPD and the city directly responsible for her death. John Anderson [end]
U.S. Rep. Marion Berry, the Democrat representing Arkansas' First District, discussed issues as varied as law enforcement and access to water with about 20 local officials and residents in a forum Tuesday morning at the Baxter County Courthouse. Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery told Berry he appreciated the congressman's effort to increase funding to law enforcement through Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants and Byrne grants. Law-enforcement grant funding had been cut by the previous Legislature, especially Byrne grants, which go toward anti-drug efforts. [continues 600 words]
Editor: The recently enacted bylaw by North Cowichan council to have landlords police their properties for marijuana "grow-ops" places crime control efforts in the wrong hands. Hopefully, Ladysmith town councillors will not be seduced by the same flawed thinking. People grow marijuana for profit because federal politicians refuse to repeal the laws we have today, despite the recommendations for decriminalizing cannabis from two commissions of inquiry in 1969 and 2002. Our current laws against marijuana foster a perpetual black market and all the problems associated with it. Organized crime, violence, property damage, theft of electricity and money-laundering will continue to thrive under our repressive laws. [continues 52 words]
Re: "Injection site boosts drug use: RCMP," Dec. 11 It shouldn't surprise us that the RCMP have cobbled together a "report" to show that supervised injection sites "boost drug use." The question we should be asking our national police force is, "What evidence will you accept that supervised injection sites are working to prevent personal harm and criminal behaviour?" I've asked Mounties responsible for drug enforcement this type of question several times over the past 10 years. Their typical answer is that they won't accept any evidence which contradicts drug-control policies set by senior police bureaucrats in Ottawa. This response amounts to: "Our minds are made up so don't confuse us with facts." Tragically for Canadians concerned about street crime, this tendency to reject research to inform our drug control strategies may find a receptive audience in Parliament. John Anderson Nanaimo. [end]
Editor, By doing a little research, Ron Waller would do well to answer his own question: "Haven't we learned anything from the '60s drug culture?" (May 23 Chronicle). According to regular surveys with youth on the topic, fewer young people are using illicit drugs, smoking cigarettes and, for that matter, having children out of wedlock than did their parents in the 1960s. Ron can write me for a list of educational materials. And if youth are to learn anything about drugs, please don't look to Mr. Waller for answers. He claims that someone can be addicted to methamphetamine after using it once. Yeah, yeah we heard that one before, but it was LSD and cocaine when we got it from adults in the '60s. The instant addiction claim is part of the growing moral panic developing around meth. [continues 294 words]
To the Editor, Conservative leader Stephen Harper talks tough about crime prevention, but his plan for mandatory minimum sentences will have little or no impact on public safety. Under Conservative thinking, crimes such as cannabis cultivation will be deterred through mandatory minimum sentences (MMS). Judges will have no discretion in these matters - instead they will sentence offenders according to fixed penalties specified in the Criminal Code. The evidence that mandatory minimums will deter crime is in short supply. A comprehensive study by Professors Thomas Gabor and Nicole Crutcher in the Research and Justice Division at the Department of Justice recently evaluated the effect of mandatory minimum sentences, mostly by examining the U.S. experience. Some key findings in the study are: [continues 155 words]
I'm not going to take issue with the content of what your readers have written about having needles in prison, but rather the logic of their argument. Let's change a few words in letters from two of your readers [Heather Hepburn and Frank C. Wirrell]. I'll use their words, but substitute people who are similar in their 'affliction,' that is, tobacco addicts and the overweight. Hepburn: "Smokers are going to get health treatment. These people should have to take their chances, and if they get cancer, all the better because they will die prematurely and my tax dollars will no longer have to feed, clothe, or pay for the many wonderful amenities in our laughable hospitals." [continues 98 words]
