SHAMEFUL DRUG LAWS

Dear Editor:

Your corporate owners will be pleased indeed at your continued support
of the police as they enthusiastically utilize our shameful drug laws
to persecute the minority that uses some harmful drugs while leaving
alone the majority that uses other harmful drugs.

Selling fear to the public has always been a mainstay of the media
(and the police, for that matter). Taking a "tough on crime" stance,
particularly in a climate of perpetual fear created by the "war on
drugs" and the "war on terrorism," is always a politically safe posture.

"Criminals" have no lobbying groups, there is no political price to
pay for attacking such an easy scapegoat. By focusing on crime,
attention is effectively directed away from more divisive issues on
which a politician might well have to take a stand that would cost
them votes.

Meanwhile, induced by the media, a fearful populace continues to
surrender their civil rights and constitutional protections at an
alarming rate, so that their government may protect them from the
rampant criminality of the masses.

Alan Randell

Victoria, BC