MEDIA-ADDLED PUBLIC GOBBLING UP CONSERVATIVE 'CRACK DOWN' ON CRIME

To the editor,

In actual fact, the Conservatives are trying to increase crime in an
effort to increase jail attendance. Mandatory minimum sentences for
pot growing, for example (Bill C-15), will do nothing to scare off the
gangsters, but will do much to scare off the mom 'n pop growers who
offer direct market competition to and better product than the gang
growers. With these small-timers out of the picture, there will be
more business, and thus more violence, within the gang community.

So not only will our jails get filled up with people doing mandatory
jail time for as few as six marijuana plants, or passing a joint
outside a mall, the government is actually subsidizing the entire
industry. Why would they do this? Because overall crime has steadily
declined for about 10 years, and they need to justify their
ever-increasing police budgets and constant erosion of civil rights
and liberties.

Furthermore, the Tories boastfully say that they want to make Canada's
jail systems more like the US which has much higher crime rates than
we do, and the largest prison population in the history of mankind.
This policy will make a handful of people very rich, while costing the
taxpayer's much, much more. And on top of it all, it will cause an
increase in crime. Keep in mind also jail is the best place to recruit
new gangsters. The whole thing is a scam, and the media-addled public
is gobbling it up like cake.

Russell Barth

Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis (PAIDOC)

Nepean, Ont.