MORE JAILS = MORE CRIMINALS

Re: Building Boom Set For Federal Prison System, March 9.

The prison building boom being promised by the Tories will only lead
to a more violent and dangerous Canada. I know firsthand that prisons
breed crime and violence. I was convicted as a non-violent pot dealer
and was caged with 37 other, mostly violent, offenders. I was released
on appeal after five days but that was plenty of time to learn many
scams and cons and make new contacts in the underworld, if I ever
desired to become a career criminal.

I came close enough to physical altercations while jailed that I am
now determined to learn some martial arts so I can defend myself.
Violence is hard to avoid in jail. Most inmates don't have the best
social skills to begin with and everyone is stressed. Inmates' lives
irreconcilably fall apart due to their powerlessness. Wives leave,
babies are born, houses and cars are repossessed, family members get
sick and old and die. The prison institution breeds depression and
hopelessness, as well as violence.

Facing possible death by violence while imprisoned is especially
unjust considering cannabis has never harmed anyone.

Paul DeFelice, Nelson, B.C.