STIFFER PENALTIES FOR MARIJUANA IS THE ANSWER

Dear Editor:

Re: Second Thought, Camrose Booster, Mar. 15/05

After reading Dr. Osbourne's article I was compelled to
write.

I cannot believe that we allow this type of thinking in our
educational establishments. No wonder we have such difficulty
controlling crime, when people such as Dr. Osbourne write articles
practically encouraging people to flaunt the law! What's worse is the
alarming errors that he, a professor of sociology, has included in his
article!

While not all marijuana users are responsible for the tragic deaths of
the RCMP Officers in Mayerthorpe, it brings me to ask, would this have
happened if there were no viable market for marijuana in the first
place?

If no one is using, then no one is buying.

Certainly not all marijuana users are violent offenders, but
presently, all marijuana users are criminals.

The medicinal value of marijuana is minimal, and doctors still look to
other, safer drugs to prescribe.

I do not argue the notion of Roszko being a violent offender with a
hatred for the RCMP. I do believe however, that we need stiffer
penalties in more restrictive prisons.

This combined with education on drugs and the causes of drug use and
other criminal activity will do more to prevent crime and tragedies
such as this from occurring than the legalization of marijuana. To
compare those who are opposed to marijuana legalization as racists and
relics from the past is equally discriminatory!

The 'War on Drugs' is a losing battle.

So is the war on speeding, murder, theft, cancer, AIDS, and numerous
other afflictions on society.

But we continue to fight them. Prohibition did not work in the past.
It may not be the answer today.

But if we adopt the attitude that 'if we cannot win we should give
in', we may as well abolish all forms of law enforcement. We will
never stop people from breaking the law. But with education and
guidance, of which you sir should be a part of, we can hopefully curb
the criminal element and activity within our borders.

The reasons for drug use are similar to the reasons for using alcohol
and tobacco. Both of which are currently legal, despite efforts to ban
smoking from every aspect of human life. While alcohol and tobacco may
kill more people than illegal drugs, we also need to look at the
fallout from illegal drugs. Drugs such as crack cocaine and heroin
which are both far more addictive than cigarettes and alcohol, the
lethalness of drugs such as crystal meth and ecstasy, or the harm that
comes from drugs such as rohipnol. This is not rhetoric, this is fact.
Yes, as the war intensifies the drug trade becomes more lucrative.

But is that a reason to stop the fight? Do you feel you are paying too
much for marijuana?

I do not use it, so it does not affect me. The solution here is,
again, education combined with stiffer penalties for
lawbreakers.

Just like your study after study, conference after conference and
expert after expert, they all conclude that drug use leads to other
crime.

Let us see you sing the praises of marijuana when someone steals your
belongings in an effort to support their habit.

How would you handle crack-addicted children? How would you encourage
a marijuana-addicted teen to stop smoking and stay in school?

These are all questions that 'Sociology' professors should be asking
themselves and their students.

We would serve ourselves better as a society to look more in depth at
the causes of drug use and ways to combat it than to simply roll over
and ignore it and hope it will go away. Decriminalization is not the
answer.

Education on the effects of drug use, the consequences of drug use,
and the encouragement of youth to remain drug-free by school teachers,
professors and other professionals are the key elements to 'winning'
the war on drugs.

We need more people siding with the law on this, and less siding with
the criminals.

Which side is yours?

Alex Boos

Camrose