Wrong turn in the Drug War
One of the most pointless so-called "wars" that western governments are fighting, is the "War on Drugs". The Harper government has indicated that it will move towards a more American style in trying to combat drug sales and use. I can only see this as a huge mistake.
By simply arresting the users and dealers, all we are doing is creating a larger class of citizens that now have a criminal record, making it harder for them to get jobs, travel, credit and numerous other things. Meanwhile, the drug trade simply continues to grow. For example, some estimates of BC's marijuana industry put the value of the annual crop at approx. 6 billion dollars a year, making it one of, if not the largest industry in BC. And the organized crime groups that supply this trade continue to grow larger and more powerful.
This underground economy causes other costs that are less obvious. Many a landlord has been hit with a hefty reno bill after a grow-op is discovered in one of their homes. Crystal Meth labs produce incredibly toxic fumes that are a danger to not only the police shutting it down, but the surronding neighbours as well. Many of the "harder" drugs (Heroin, cocaine, etc.) vary in purity and ingredients from batch to batch, increasing the risk of an overdose for an unaware user.
Decriminalization and/or legalization of these drugs seems to be the obvious solution. In my view, legalization of the "soft" drugs like marijuana and such could be coupled with government regulations on sales similar to that of alcohol and tobacco. Age regulations along with large fines for selling to minors would be vital. This would limit the exposure to young people, hopefully increasing the age at which they try it (if at all). This should be coupled with increased punishment on unauthorized selling and/or growing, making it less attractive to criminal organizations overall. That and the government could get a nice tax boost from legal sales.
For harder drugs, decriminalization is the way to go. This should be coupled with increased funding (perhaps from the pot tax) for detox centres to help addicts get clean and on to productive lives. That and the way most detox centres are run would need to be changed to be more effective. AARC, the Alberta Adolescent Recovery Centre provides a good model to build upon. This approach allows the user to get clean and as well come out without a conviction that could haunt them for the rest of their life. This also creates a drop in demand for the drugs they are using, decreasing the profitability of bringing them into the country.
Our other option is to keep building bigger and better prisons so that we can lock these people up. Personally, I'd like to see the room used to jail the serious threats to us (pedophiles, repeat offenders, etc.) than to jail a bunch of stoners and addicts.
By simply arresting the users and dealers, all we are doing is creating a larger class of citizens that now have a criminal record, making it harder for them to get jobs, travel, credit and numerous other things. Meanwhile, the drug trade simply continues to grow. For example, some estimates of BC's marijuana industry put the value of the annual crop at approx. 6 billion dollars a year, making it one of, if not the largest industry in BC. And the organized crime groups that supply this trade continue to grow larger and more powerful.
This underground economy causes other costs that are less obvious. Many a landlord has been hit with a hefty reno bill after a grow-op is discovered in one of their homes. Crystal Meth labs produce incredibly toxic fumes that are a danger to not only the police shutting it down, but the surronding neighbours as well. Many of the "harder" drugs (Heroin, cocaine, etc.) vary in purity and ingredients from batch to batch, increasing the risk of an overdose for an unaware user.
Decriminalization and/or legalization of these drugs seems to be the obvious solution. In my view, legalization of the "soft" drugs like marijuana and such could be coupled with government regulations on sales similar to that of alcohol and tobacco. Age regulations along with large fines for selling to minors would be vital. This would limit the exposure to young people, hopefully increasing the age at which they try it (if at all). This should be coupled with increased punishment on unauthorized selling and/or growing, making it less attractive to criminal organizations overall. That and the government could get a nice tax boost from legal sales.
For harder drugs, decriminalization is the way to go. This should be coupled with increased funding (perhaps from the pot tax) for detox centres to help addicts get clean and on to productive lives. That and the way most detox centres are run would need to be changed to be more effective. AARC, the Alberta Adolescent Recovery Centre provides a good model to build upon. This approach allows the user to get clean and as well come out without a conviction that could haunt them for the rest of their life. This also creates a drop in demand for the drugs they are using, decreasing the profitability of bringing them into the country.
Our other option is to keep building bigger and better prisons so that we can lock these people up. Personally, I'd like to see the room used to jail the serious threats to us (pedophiles, repeat offenders, etc.) than to jail a bunch of stoners and addicts.
Technorati Tags: marijuana, decriminalization, legalization, war on drugs
posted by Daz at 2:48 p.m.
2 Comments:
If you ask me, when a habitual user or addict is arrested, he should be put in a room until he is no longer addicted, and given help of course. It makes more sense than free needles if you ask me.
I agree with you. Just make sure they don't come out of it with a criminal record.
As for the needle thing, I doubt it is helping these people get off drugs. But it is at least ensuring they aren't sharing needles and keeping the m from getting Hep C or AIDS.
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