NOW Toronto: 10 reasons why we need to decriminalize drugs

[marmar]

10 reasons why we need to decriminalize drugs
Enzo Di Matteo


1. Drug laws are unconstitutional.

Yeah, you’re reading right. Courts at every level have ruled on the fact that drug use and addiction are health issues, not legal infractions. It’s image-conscious politicians who have chosen to wilfully ignore those rulings. Yet the courts have been unwilling to hold lawmakers accountable. It’s a vicious circle – a conspiracy even.

It’s not clear how marijuana even got on the list of prohibited drugs back in 1923. It mysteriously appeared on the schedule without a debate in Parliament.


2. Drug laws are rooted in racism.


Drug use has been used to demonize whole races of people. From musings about “lazy” Hispanic migrant farm workers partaking of the weed to Chinese opium dens and the accusation by suffragist Emily Murphy – she claimed pot smoking renders users “completely insane… raving maniacs liable to kill” – the earliest drug laws were sold as solutions to a crime problem created by blacks and browns. The ripple effects are being felt today. The 1995 Commission on Systemic Racism in the Justice System identified a continued pattern of racism in drug enforcement: blacks are 27 times more likely to end up in jail to await trial on drug charges than whites, and three times more likely to be charged with trafficking than whites.


3. Drug laws = war, corruption and terrorism.

Think the war in Afghanistan is about the Taliban and al Qaeda? You’re only half right. The war on drugs and the war on terror are often one and the same.

The propaganda fed us by the self-interested, i.e., cops and politicians, is that drug use is what fuels the drug trade. Reality check: smart policy-makers know it’s prohibition that creates the black market that makes the drug trade so lucrative. See Colombia, where the illegal cocaine trade has fuelled a five-decade civil war. And what about 9/11?

According to a report by John Thompson of the Mackenzie Institute, money from drugs is “probably the single biggest money earner” for Muslim fundamentalists.


4. Drug laws encourage the spread of disease.

Nearly two-thirds of offenders entering the federal corrections system have drug abuse problems. Sending addicts to jail on minor drug charges is a death sentence for many. The spread of HIV/AIDS and other diseases like hep C only accelerates behind bars.

About 15 per cent of the jail population reports injecting heroin or cocaine behind bars. Former inmates say they’ve seen as many as 40 fellow inmates sharing one needle. If that isn’t a recipe.... The feds’ proposed mandatory minimum drug sentences would only jail more people who shouldn’t be there and increase the spread of disease, says the Canadian HIV/AIDS Network. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=169556

[mdmc]

1. thanks for the link

[abq e streeter]

2. A movie called "Grass", narrated by Woody Harrelson, is a good basic history of this

at least as far as, obviously, marijuana. The cynical playing on racist fear and ignorance that got pot outlawed is really pretty sickening. And the fact that its still illegal and that politicians of BOTH parties are utter cowards in dealing with this in a responsible and realistic manner is simply ridiculous.

[Captain Hilts]

3. Part-time Torontonian here. Life there is fine with gay marriage and no law against possession. nt

[marmar]

4. I'm in T.O. as I write....sitting in a coffee shop on W. Bloor in the Annex.

..... having a great Memorial Day wknd visiting friends.....Life is indeed good here.

[Canuckistanian]

5. Ha! He used John Thompson quote to make the case for legalization

John Thompson and the Mackenzie Institute are the equivalent of the AEI here in Canada.

[Wednesdays]

6. K&R

:kick:

[reggie the dog]

7. excellent list

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