COP CALLS TO LEGALIZE DRUGS

Cops Like David Bratzer Are A Rare Breed.

Think of the late Gil Puder. A distinguished Vancouver police officer,
Puder called for an end to the war on drugs while he was in active
service during the late 1990s and continued to do so despite threats
of disciplinary action from his superiors.

Or the recently retired West Vancouver police chief Kash Heed. At one
time, while he was still with the Vancouver police, Heed, according to
Bratzer, also spoke about the legalization of drugs.

Bratzer has been with the Victoria police for only three years, and
already the 31-year-old officer has stepped forward to question the
basis of the country's drug laws.

"As a police officer, you always want to help people, so it's very
frustrating to be a police officer and enforce laws that are not
necessarily helpful," Bratzer told the Georgia Straight by phone.

Last month, he addressed participants in a cannabis convention held at
the University of Victoria, where he presented his proposals for a
post-prohibition era.

Step one, he said, is to legalize all drugs. Step two is for the
provincial government to regulate drugs in the same way it regulates
alcohol. Step three, he continued, is to decide what to do with the
"peace dividend" or the funds that government can save by stopping the
war on drugs.

Bratzer also told participants at the convention, which was organized
by the International Hempology 101 Society, that among the things
guaranteed in a war-on-drugs regime is criminal activity. This comes
from both drug users in need of money for a quick fix and
organized-crime groups involved in the production and distribution of
drugs, he said.

Coming out to speak about these things as a volunteer with Law
Enforcement Against Prohibition-a Massachusetts-based group composed
of current and former members of the police and justice
communities-isn't easy.

"It's been mixed," Bratzer said when asked about the reaction of his
Victoria police colleagues. He stressed that his views are entirely
his own and do not reflect the position of the police department.

He also has two older brothers who are with the Victoria police. "We
have talked about it," Bratzer said. "They understand that I have my
own opinions and they respect that. They don't necessarily agree with
me but they respect my right to free speech."

The Straight caught up with B.C. solicitor general John van Dongen
earlier this month at a private screening of A Warrior's Religion, a
documentary dealing with gangs in the South Asian community. When
asked about the prospects of legalization, van Dongen said: "That is a
federal issue and certainly the Conservative government has made their
position clear that they're not going there."

Where Canada's war on drugs may lead to in the future worries Tony
Smith, a retired 28-year veteran of the Vancouver Police Department
and also a LEAP member.

In Mexico, Smith noted, drug cartels have grown so powerful with
profits from the drug trade that they can either buy off police,
judges, and politicians or kill them at will.

"What's really the difference here and there?" Smith asked in a phone
interview with the Straight.

In the U.S., according to Smith, there's much talk about drug
corruption among law enforcers. That may not be the case in Canada,
but he warned that once it starts happening here, "you won't know
which policemen are under the pay of the drug people and which
policemen aren't" and "it's a very thin line once you approach that
point."

Referring to the ongoing turf war among gangs here in the Lower
Mainland, Smith noted that drug lords now don't seem to care about
"what level of violence they're using amongst themselves".

What if, Smith asked, somebody comes "stepping out of the line and
thinks, 'Well, you know, screw it. I'm in a bit of a problem here.
I'll just take out the policeman or the judge or whatever.' And once
that occurs, then we'll have total anarchy."

The war on drugs

- - Share of enforcement-related activities in Canada's drug strategy:
75 percent

- - Share of drug-related criminal charges in Canadian courts in 2002:
23 percent

- - Cost associated with drug cases before the courts in 2002: $330
million

- - Policing costs for drug enforcement in 2002: $1.43
billion

- - Correctional-service costs associated with drugs in 2002: $573
million

- - Canadians reporting having used illicit drugs during their life in
1994: 28.5 percent

- - Canadians reporting illicit-drug use during their life in 2004: 45
percent

Source: "Canada's 2003 renewed drug strategy-an evidence-based review",
published in the HIV/AIDS Policy and Law Review 's December 2006 edition

[sidebar]

Should we encourage police officers to express openly their views
regarding prohibition?

Tom Stamatakis
President, B.C. Police Association

"Freedom of speech is a core value that we hold dear. I don't have an
issue with it. Everybody should be entitled to express their opinion.
As a retired person, you're entitled to comment on any issue. When
you're employed, I think you're still entitled to hold your own
personal views. You just might want to be careful on how you express
your views and make clear that these are your personal views and not
reflective of your employer's views. That's where I think the conflict
comes from-when that distinction is not made clear."

Tony Smith Retired Vancouver constable

"A lot of senior police officers, and by 'senior' I mean both in rank
and years in service, believe that we have the solution, although they
won't come out and say it. It seems there's a lot of politics being
played. It's just been so long established that these [drugs] are
supposed to be bad. And also, of course, to some extent some of them,
if they were to agree, would be saying that everything that they've
done in their careers was a waste of time, which is a kind of hard
thing to swallow."

Indira Prahst Langara College sociology instructor

"There is a code of silence in the police force where indeed police
officers cannot openly express their views. Their insight into
hands-on experiences in the field of law enforcement that we in the
public don't have access to is so valuable, and I wish the police
would have more freedom around it. I think the police should be
participants in a prohibition dialogue around pros and cons and from
the viewpoint of police as opposed to constantly taking the position
of, you know, 'Let's not legalize marijuana.' "

David MacAlister SFU criminology professor

"Most police departments have a policy where they let their
media-relations people do all the talking. The police like to manage
the public's perception of the police as carefully as possible. It's
almost getting into the political realm if individual police officers
are speaking out about whether any particular law should be in place
or not. I can see how police management and maybe their political
masters would probably think that's not appropriate for police
officers.believing that these are matters that are best left to
politicians."