HARPER GETTING HIGH WITH HIS FRIENDS

What would you do if I sang out of tune; would you stand up and walk
out on me?

Well, Mr. Harper, if I was there, I damn well would have, and I also
might have thrown a shoe at you too.

As almost everyone knows, and probably has seen on YouTube, Prime
Minister Stephen Harper sang the Beatles' tune "With a Little Help
From my Friends" at a gala event in Ontario. (Check it out on YouTube
if you haven't seen it yet.) I know that this issue has been talked
about a lot, but damn it, I want to point out the hypocrisy too.

The fact that he was at a gala event, when last year he made the
comment about the arts community being a bunch of gala goers who don't
deserve funding from the government, doesn't bother me as much as him
singing the line "I get high with a little help from my friends." It
is mindblowing that a man who wants to throw all pot smokers in jail
could be so pompous as to sing that song. He even claims to be a fan
of the Beatles-a band whose inspiration came from the use of illegal
drugs. But maybe he justified it by thinking they were getting high on
legal drugs like alcohol, prescription medicine, and glue. And I'm
sure that at least two of those three drugs were flowing readily that
evening.

Many people are still unaware of the crime bills that are sitting in
Senate right now. The worst of them is Bill C-15, which proposes
mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes. What does it mean to have
mandatory minimum sentences? It does not allow a judge to use
discretion in a trial, and you end up with an overcrowded prison
system like that of the United States, where over one percent of the
population is in jail.

The strange thing about these "tough on crime" bills is that crime
rates have actually been steadily declining over the past several
years. What appears is that the Tories want to actually create crime
from non-violent offences. 13 of the 16 experts brought in to give
testimony during the readings of the bills strongly advised against
mandatory minimums. The U.S. has some of the toughest laws in the
world, yet they have one of the highest crime rates. It just doesn't
make sense to follow that same template. It is obvious that the Tories
are acting more on ideology than logic, and our country is going to
suffer because of it.

If you think that gang problems are bad now, wait until drugs become
more risky to produce. The price will skyrocket and the profit for
criminals will do the same-more risk, more money. And do you really
think that putting non-violent offenders in the prison population with
true criminals won't cause any type of social damage to the
individual? You can bet that they will be pretty pissed and bitter
when they get out, and not necessarily be willing to conform to the
people that ruined their otherwise normal lives.

You can bet that the influx of new prisoners will also be great for
recruiting new gang members. People who would not otherwise be exposed to
gangs will be sitting at their breakfast tables, angry and dismayed, and
possibly jump on board. I'm reminded of a great line from the film Blow: "I
went in with a Bachelor's in marijuana, and came out with a Ph.D. in
cocaine." But hey, that will never happen in Canada, right?

So, Mr. Harper, Keep on Truckin'. And next time, rather than singing a
Beatles tune, why not try doing a bit from a Cheech and Chong skit?

God Bless Camerica!