HARPER'S BLATANT LIES AND DECEPTIONS

Dear Editor:

People who think that Harper's "anti-drug strategy" is about winning the
so-called war on drugs are sadly misinformed. He may be a fascist, but he's
certainly not stupid. He knows that his plan will have no effect on
reducing use of illegal drugs. No evidence is required beyond the blatant
lies and deceptions he used in his speech.

You commented on one example, his assertion that "illegal drugs are
directly involved in the death of thousands of Canadian men and women."

While this may be a true statement for, say, the last fifty years, tobacco
kills at least that many every year.

Another glaring example is his assertion that illegal drugs "rob young
people of their futures; they tear families apart; they make our streets
less safe and they lay waste to our communities."

The truth, of course, is that these are all effects of drug prohibition,
not drugs. The most frightening thing about Harper's speech, in fact, is
not so much what he said as the fact that he thinks he can hoodwink enough
Canadians to get away with it.

Tangentially, I should mention that, according to Simon Fraser University
criminology professor Neil Boyd's book about drug-use patterns in Canada
High Society, the vast majority of cocaine users are not addicts and do not
have social problems related to that use - other than the danger of getting
caught purchasing or using.

The most insidious aspect of Harper's speech is that, while he failed to
make a single reference to marijuana - marijuana production, distribution,
and use will actually bear the brunt of his increased "enforcement."

His promise to spend millions on treatment is also rather deceptive. His
plan is probably to duplicate the U.S. experience, where drug-war lunatic
John Walters can state that teenagers go into treatment for marijuana more
than any other illegal drug, but without adding that it's because teenagers
caught with marijuana are offered a choice between "treatment" and a
criminal record.

Many of these treatment centres are nothing more than political
"rehabilitation" camps, which we decried when used by communist
governments, but now find quite attractive.

Of course, the inevitable failure of Harper's strategy will be used as an
excuse to intensify it further - perhaps the most dangerous aspect of his plan.

Beware of governments claiming that vastly increasing their powers is good
for you! As Paul Krassner warned many years ago: The drug war has
transformed the military-industrial complex into the prison-industrial complex.

Fascism is already here, it's just friendly fascism, with spin doctors
galore to explain how it protects you.

The millennium will be a battle between individual freedom and friendly
fascism.

George Kosinski

Drug Policy Analyst

Gibsons, B.C.