MAYORS COME UP WITH WAY TO INCREASE TAXES, REDUCE CRIME

Rumour has it that many decades ago the inlets and waterways
surrounding Westham Island were useful to more than just ducks and
migratory birds. During prohibition, rumour is that fast speedboats
were able to make runs between Canada and alcohol-free U.S., eluding
the RCMP and American police. Prohibition proved to be a flawed
policy and we now see alcohol available in a wide variety of retail
stores and in almost every restaurant.

Much more recently five former and current mayors of Vancouver have
declared it's time to reconsider the laws against marijuana. They
state that organized crime has accumulated billions of dollars from
running an underground economy supplying marijuana to many in our
society who see it as "no big deal" to consume.

They declare that if the billions we now spend trying to chase and
stop this trade were redirected to reducing the damage from hard
drugs, and marijuana was taxed and sold like alcohol, we would be
better off - economically and as a society.

All five mayors, including Philip Owen, have called for the
legalization. He cites the failure of the 1906 Opium Act that was
designed to stop drug importation and consumption. Today 65,000 die
from alcohol and tobacco poisoning in Canada yet the government
allows both substances and taxes them heavily. In Mexico, last year
15,000 people were killed in gang wars over who would control the drug trade.

Why is this concerning us just now? The Harper government is in the
process of spending $2.3 billion to expand prison capacity in Canada
and send more people to prison. Right now cells meant for one are
being used by two and sometimes three people due to overcrowding.

More prisons plus tougher sentences resulting in more convicts are
the Harper government's answer to fighting crime, including marijuana
trafficking.

The mayors argue we need to stop prohibiting and start to learn how
to manage/control marijuana, a non-toxic substance compared to either
tobacco or alcohol. If we do we will reduce crime and gangs by a very
significant proportion.

We can then tax the marijuana sold and use the billions from those
taxes for fighting crime. With marijuana being controlled there would
be are fewer gangs and less crime, so we won't need all those prisons.

Texas, that rough and ready state that chooses to execute prisoners
frequently, has discovered that prisons are not the answer to crime.
They are emptying their prisons and sending the convicts on programs
designed to prepare them to become law-abiding citizens again. Texans
learned the hard way - just ask them.

One continuing problem is the mentally ill who are in prison. One in
five inmates is ill and treatments are way below standard - and
getting worse. Canada has a miserable record of dealing with this challenge.

So what's to lose from treating marijuana like tobacco or alcohol?
Our local MP, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, has landed the job of secretary to
minister of justice and has the portfolio of guiding the Harper
"Tough on Crime" plan through Parliament. It's time to ask her!