NEVER MIND THE FACTS

Tony Clement is a vile monster who campaigns on the backs of sick and
dying people in order to pander to the Tories' mean-spirited, myopic,
punishment-happy voter base ("Blinded by the right," Aug 21 - Aug 27,
2008).

Never mind that junk food kills many times more Canadians than all
illegal drugs combined, and that alcohol and tobacco kill in similar
numbers.

Ignore the fact that it is the prohibitionist mindset of
punishment-happy sickos like Harper and Clement that caused this mess
in the first place. Forget that there are only enough treatment beds
for a tiny fraction of the people afflicted.

Forget that the laws around drugs in Canada are arbitrary,
hypocritical, counterproductive and serve only to subsidize gangsters,
lawyers, cops and jailers.

Never mind that-no matter what Clement says-harm reduction is a proven
success, and that the US-style drug laws offered by the Tories are
failing everywhere it has been used.

Never mind that it costs far more lives and money to approach the
problem with "zero-tolerance" than with some compassion and pragmatism.

It is monstrous people like Harper and Clement that are keeping this
country from moving forward with a sensible and affordable drug
policy. They are the problem, not the solution.

Russell Barth