HARPER'S MARIJUANA ACTION PLAN

On March 16, Stephen Harper sat down to a Canadian political first - a
prime ministerial YouTube interview. Nearly 200,000 votes were cast
for thousands of questions.

Now, considering the medium for this session I think most of us can
guess what the top voted question would be concerning, no?

Well, for all you living in Canada's "drug free zones" I'll fill you
in: "A majority of Canadians, when polled, say they believe marijuana
should be legal for adults, just like alcohol. Why don't you end the
war on drugs and focus on violent criminals?"

Harper, like any great sophist, began by questioning the legitimacy of
the sources that the curious Canadian was speaking of and replied
that, "There are different polls on this subject that show different
things."

Immediately after this he veered the question into emotion land and
began speaking of his concern for his two young children and the kind
of environment his wishes for them to grow up in. A perfect way to
avoid answering what was really being asked, if I do say so myself.

Keep in mind that I am fully aware of the "preaching to the choir"
aspect of discussing marijuana with a university student body.
However, this article is not about that, rather it is concerning the
failure of our prime minister to offer a coherent argument for his
stance on the subject.

Harper goes on to note - by some kind of intense witchcraft and
wizardry - that legalizing marijuana would increase the violence
created by the drug trade and international cartels. I will not go
into the hundreds of sound arguments that indicate otherwise, but we
really must give this man a tip of the cap for keeping a straight face
when spewing this nonsense.

To think the man who sat on a stage and sang "I get high with a little
help from my friends" could spread such misinformation. Clearly, we do
not have a friend in the current government of Canada.

Harper continued with his flawless logic: "The reason drugs are
illegal is because they are bad. And even if these things were
legalized, I can predict with a lot of confidence that these would
never be respectable businesses run by respectable people."

So, following this line of reasoning, it would be fair to say that
alcohol, tobacco or any other legal drugs are inherently good because
of the fact the are legal. Sweet. Now that I'm aware of this bit of
information I'm off to drown myself in liquor, all the while knowing I
will remain a reputable man.

Prime Minster Harper's answer to the top voted question was laughable.
How I wish I could have been there to point out the true nature of
what was being asked. He did a perfect tip-toe around it offering only
fluff and deception. It is such a shame that this medium was deemed
democratic. He was allowed to shrug off the question as nonsense
because of the undemocratic nature of this session. Democracy is not
question-and answer, or vote every once in a while. Democracy is
action and dialogue.

Now, stop smoking pot, my fellow students, for God's sake. Don't you
want to remain respectable human beings?