Tom says: “Prohibition never worked and never will!”
It was “The Roaring 20’s…”
Americans were having fun, they had lots of disposable income, lots of spare time on their hands and many of them did far too much drinking.
The government of the day came up with the answer — It was called PROHIBITION.
The brewing, distribution and sale of alcohol was supposed to have been stopped — at least that’s what the U-S government thought.
Since there was a continuing demand, there had to be a supply and finding illicit booze was no problem. In fact, more than any other single thing, illicit booze was responsible for most of the organized crime in the U-S at the time.
Those who ran the risk of brewing and running illegal booze were making money so fast they couldn’t stop to count it. Even today, many of us know the names of the suppliers.
Prohibition in the U-S proved one thing and one thing only — it didn’t work.
Now, Stephen Harper has may have decided to enforce the same Draconian type rules governing the use of illicit drugs in this country.
Get caught with a joint or two that’s obviously for your use only — and who knows — you could go to jail, be unemployed, pay heavy fines and be restricted to staying in this country for the rest of your life.
Mr Harper, the studies are in, what you’re trying to do is not going to work. Why spend millions and millions and millions of tax payer’s hard earned dollars only to enforce legislation which could result in tens-of-thousands of mostly young Canadians ending up with criminal records — and a good chance at a life ruined.
I know it’s part of your “get tough on crime agenda” but what you’re doing is getting tough on the wrong people. I’m not advocating the decriminalization of even a small amount of any illegal drugs. Please, take another look and give another thought to what you’re about to do.
It’s wrong, wrong, wrong.
I’m Tom Young.
October 4th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
I’m not one who partakes, but marijuana use is wide spread throughout my friends and acquaintances. I don’t mind saying, that the vast majority of these people, don’t fit the drug dealer/lord stereotype. They are average Canadians, leading average lives that choose this method to relax and unwind.
The ones, they would consider producers, don’t grow for the purpose of trafficking but to save money and regulate the quality of what they use.
Could this be a knee jerk reaction to the recent report that list us 5th in the world for cannabis use? Seems plausible, but an older report stated that 45% of us have tried it at least once. So should half of our fellow countrymen be subject to the full extent of the law? Seems drastic!
We not only lead the G8 countries in cannabis use but also in the promotion of medical marijuana, which I can’t help but feel, is in jeopardy. All of this must cause some awkward silences, between Prime Minister Steve and his good buddy George W. Who I know, shook his fist to the north, every time we discussed the decriminalization of marijuana. Safe to say this new agenda will bring us back into the fold. After all these baby steps forward towards a realistic policy, we are taking one giant step back and over the precipice.