LET'S END WHITE'S INSANITY

I was thrilled to see Langley-Abbotsford MP Randy White has resolved to
raise the issue of drugs higher in the public forum in 2004.

In the Jan. 6 Times, White said: "I want to see the nation concentrating
more on this drug problem, from grow-ops to the lack of lawyers and judges
putting an emphasis on it to heroin addiction."

The time is ripe for drug reform. Public consensus is at a critical mass
and many people - doctors, counsellors, citizens, lawyers, judges - are
questioning the wisdom of keeping marijuana criminal.

There is daily evidence the program isn't working and is out of control.
Kids randomly break into homes looking for pot plants to steal; clandestine
pot operations pop up like mushrooms in "affordable" family neighbourhoods;
cops pour resources into a futile exercise that also threatens personal rights.

White could point out that many reasonable Canadians think that marijuana
prohibition is crippling society as did liquor prohibition, creating an
environment in which crime flourishes.

While the Supreme Court recently ruled that criminal sanctions against pot
are not unreasonable, three of the nine justices did say the "harm caused
by prohibiting marijuana is fundamentally disproportionate to the problems
that the state seeks to suppress. This harm far outweighs the benefits that
the prohibition can bring."

The message from a 2002 Senate committee report on drugs was that pot
prohibition was ineffective [almost one-third of Canadians have smoked it
at some time], that it was low-risk and it should be regulated, like booze.
The Senate committee noted: "The main social costs of cannabis are a result
of public policy choices, primarily its continued criminalization, while
the consequences of its use represent a small fraction of the social costs
attributable to the use of illegal drugs."

In New York, retiring Syracuse city auditor Minch Lewis concluded in
January the $34 million the city spent annually on drug enforcement was
"counterproductive," and also called for non-criminal regulation.

White could raise provocative questions in Ottawa to Prime Minister Paul
Martin, before he gets too cozy with President George Bush.

Why does the American government continue its hypocritical policies in
which its own agencies - the military, the Central Intelligence Agency,
even its police at home - perpetuate the drug trade, in South America, now
again in Afghanistan and at home?

How complicit do we Canadians want to be in "drug war" policies that
undermine society here and abroad?

With the knowledge he gained on the 2002 parliamentary committee on
non-prescription drug use, White could provide this constituency with
factual information, such as that pot does not lead to hard drugs, instead
of hysteria.

White may also want to enlighten the blinkered city council and other
Abbotsford moralists that harm reduction is supported by medical
professionals and governments across Canada. One year ago, in a cynical,
hard-hearted gesture, Abbotsford Mayor Mary Reeves and her council declared
the city a "harm reduction-free zone."

The motion served only to confirm to our drug-addicted residents that the
council has nothing but contempt for them. The council's gesture was also
silly, since those who work at the street level, in hospitals, in
counselling offices, in the methadone clinic and other places are doing
their utmost to reduce harm to those struggling people.

Let's end the insanity. Just say no, Randy.