THE MEDIA'S TO BLAME, AS USUAL

Dear Editor,

Re Couple charged in Bentley bust, Dec. 18

Here we go again, yet another story in a seemingly endless stream of
prohibitionist claptrap served up by our media to make us fear and/or
despise those totally innocent souls who use or sell illegal drugs. As
usual, the victims are not permitted to be heard and neither are those of
us who oppose these ridiculous drug laws.

Let's get a few things straight about drugs.

First, no government has the right to punish anyone for ingesting anything,
however harmful.

Second, the consequences of prohibition are far more harmful than anything
preceeding it: More user deaths because of adulterated drugs, much more
crime, explosions and fires in illegal drug labs, electricity thefts,
accelerated spread of infectious diseases, skyrocketing law enforcement
costs, police corruption, disrespect for the law, easier access for
children (because drugs are often sold at school by classmates), more
difficult for parents and children to communicate honestly about drugs,
etc., etc.

Third, even if governments did have the right to ban harmful drugs, banning
marijuana, heroin, etc. STILL makes no sense whatsoever because two of more
harmful recreational drugs, alcohol and tobacco are not banned and
marijuana is banned even though it is LESS harmful than either.

So if drugs aren't banned because they're harmful, why do we ban them?
That's easy. It is to entertain the majority by ruining the lives of the
minority. The key here is the cops can CHOOSE whom to arrest, whose door to
burst through with guns drawn. Drug prohibition began at the beginning of
the 20th century as a means of persecuting blacks (marijuana), Mexicans
(marijuana) and Chinese (opium), but today the cops are happy to make use
of this evil law to harass and control all those whose lifestyles they do
not approve of. No doubt President Richard Nixon cranked up the level of
the drug war some 30 years ago solely to exact his revenge against all
those hippies who opposed the Vietnam war.

Why do we put up with this brutal and unjustifiable program?

BECAUSE THE MEDIA SUPPORT IT.

Why do the media support this Hitler-like program? Let us count the ways:

1. It provides many "exciting" news stories about various busts, murders
and assaults as well as adrenaline-pumping accounts of cops battering down
doors - usually in the poorer areas of our cities and towns.

2. It enables editors to wax poet (sic) as they pledge their undying
support for these fascist-like horrors "to protect the children", taking
care to omit the hell some children are thrust into when their parents are
jailed for the "crime" of using or selling a drug the majority doesn't
approve of.

3. It provides many opportunities to publish "moving" accounts of born
again former drug users giving their just-say-no nonsense to a roomful of
children and imploring the kids, "don't do what I did, do what I say" as
they pocket speaking fees and expenses far in excess of what they could
earn if they hadn't clambered aboard the taxpayer-funded drug war gravy train.

4. It provides many drug scare stories passed along by the cops who are
anxious to keep prohibition going because it provides them with bigger
budgets and more power - not to mention free drugs.

Was there ever a greater gift to the elite of the modern nation state to
help them ride roughshod over the rights of their citizens than the mass
media? I think not. Abraham Lincoln was mistaken. You don't have to fool
all the people all the time in order to oppress the people. All that's
required is for the majority to be fooled all the time, and sadly, once you
have the media behind you, that task is child's play.

Alan Randell, Victoria, B.C.