NO WAY TO THE DEA

There are some newcomers to town, and a local political group is mighty
ticked off about it. The BC Marijuana Party is smoking, in the figurative
sense, over the arrival of a local office for U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration.

Why are they here?

Media reports state the DEA says it's all part of an effort to fight
drug-smuggling and organized crime.

But conjecture has it that the pressure from the U.S. to bring in drug
control has Canada worried about trade restrictions if they refuse them.

The Marijuana Party claims the DEA presence insults Canadian sovereignty,
because one half of Canadians now support complete legalization of
marijuana (highly doubtful).

But they do have a point.

It's all too easy to forget the U.S. in indeed a foreign country to
Canadians.

More serious is the big obstacle the DEA presence will pose to the hard
work on the part of civic, provincial and federal politicians to craft a
"four-pillar approach" to help reform in the Downtown Eastside.

The long struggle to reduce the harm of drug addiction on community health
and safety can only be undermined by the presence of any foreign government
much less one whose policies lie at opposite ends of the spectrum of
understanding drug addiction.