Apr 242011
 

4.8 Ending the war on drugs

In 2008, according to the Treasury Board, Canada spent $61.3 million targeting illicit drugs, with a majority of that money going to law enforcement. Most of that was for the “war” against cannabis (marijuana). Marijuana prohibition is also prohibitively costly in other ways, including criminalizing youth and fostering organized crime. Cannabis prohibition, which has gone on for decades, has utterly failed and has not led to reduced drug use in Canada.

After analyzing the recommendation of the Canadian Senate’s 2002 Special Committee on Drugs and the examples of strategies used by some European countries, the Green Party of Canada has come to the conclusion that it is time to legalize the adult use of marijuana. Furthermore, the Greens believe that drug addictions should be treated as a health problem, not as criminal offences.

Green Party MPs will:

• Legalize marijuana by removing marijuana from the drug schedule.

• Create a regulatory framework for the safe production of marijuana by small, independent growers.

• Develop a taxation rate for marijuana similar to that of tobacco.

• Establish the sale of marijuana to adults for medicinal or personal use through licensed distribution outlets.

• Educate the public about the health threats of marijuana, tobacco and other drug use.

• Launch a public consultation on the decriminalization of illicit drugs, considering the current high costs of the law enforcement effort.

• Provide increased funding to safe injection sites, treatment facilities and addict rehabilitation.

  2 Responses to “2011-04-24 “The War on Drugs” is a bogus war, propaganda for increasing police and military presence.”

  1. If you want to see an even more frightening story about the effect of increasing police and military presence in Canada on ordinary people, check this story out about a Victoria, BC woman. It’s all the more frightening because it seems no Canadian media have picked the story up. I found this article in the U.S. media accidentally when I was Googling. Stunning. Chilling.

    http://ctwatchdog.com/2011/04/20/granny-snatching-where-is-sgt-preston-dudley-do-right-is-a-cartoon

    And here’s a You Tube video of this woman.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrzngkyy6Ds

    After reading the story and watching this video, I Googled “granny snatching”+”Kathleen Palamarek” and found more, but still no Canadian mainstream media coverage. Wow.

    • Thanks Robin. I forwarded your input to my brother who lives in the area. Coincidentally I just had a conversation with a young fellow about the evils of money. There is that issue in this case. But as you point out, the disturbing question of how the machinery of the state is brought to bear is frightening.

      The experience of the elderly lady being drugged resonates with me: while not elderly but with a large volume of fluid on my lung, as a consequence of asking too many questions in the Emergency Ward – – a long story – – I ended up being forcibly given an injection that caused me to have permanent amnesia of a period of time. In the lead-up to being forced down so they could give the injection I had been calmly asserting that I had a right to talk with my lawyer. The doctor, Donna Malcolm, refused me access to a phone and insisted that I could use the Hospital’s lawyer. I was later told that I did talk with the Hospital’s lawyer, but I have no recollection of the conversation. I tried to address the abuse of human rights later, through the College of Physicians & Surgeons which was a lost cause; they don’t let you make a presentation in person.

      Donna Malcolm injected me with a drug combination, one of which almost always causes a loss of memory. She claimed that the drug doesn’t do that, but the information is readily available on-line. The duration of the period for which memory loss occurs depends on the strength of the dose. She overdosed me with a combination of drugs for which the instructions are that, if used in conjunction with another drug, the dosage has to be reduced. I tell you this abbreviated story: I strongly advise against anyone going for medical attention on their own. But more importantly, no officials in a democracy should have the authority to administer drugs that cause instant and permanent amnesia. The story of this elderly woman is another story of the unethical use of drugs. Her story is not covered; my story was never covered, not in the mainstream media. Thank goodness we have an alternate media!

      (My story is on the blog, at “2009-07-27 This is all about the pharmaceutical, chemical and biotech corporations, and their collaborators in government. All at the expense of our interest in health. Some of it is heart-breaking. Autism, Kennedy, Psych Ward Story”. My story is in item #3 – Documentary “Making a Killing, the Untold Story of Psychotropic Drugs”. . . . . I have a special interest in “Making a Killing” because of my experience at Royal University Hospital . .. “

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