Ottawa Sun: Home of the Drug War Deniers

My favorite LTE writer, Russell Barth, continues to amaze me with his hard work for the drug reform movement. He gets a huge number of LTE's published in newspapers across the country. They are always exceptionally concise and well-written. Unfortunately, Mr. Barth's insightful and witty missives are not appreciated by the biased jackwads at the Ottawa Sun. First, read the article that Mr. Barth wrote:

CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT NO BETTER THAN HOLOCAUST DENIERS

Re "Prohibitionists no better than Holocaust deniers?" ( Dec. 29 ): A Holocaust denier is someone who refuses to admit that the Nazis killed six million people, despite overwhelming evidence to prove that it did, in fact, happen. The notion is regarded to be about as sensible as asserting that the Earth is flat.

When it comes to the topic of drug prohibition vs. regulation, this Conservative government is literally no better than Holocaust deniers. The Tories, police, churches, and anyone else who supports drug prohibition, are refusing to admit to the solid, indisputable truth: Like alcohol prohibition in the last century, drug prohibition is a colossal failure. It subsidizes gangsters, costs a fortune, and increases danger.

Stephen Harper, Vic Toews, Stockwell Day, and most of the top brass of Canadian law enforcement are either so blinded by religious or quasi-moralistic ideologies that they refuse to see the facts, or they are deliberately misleading and endangering the Canadian public. Either way, they are a clear and present danger to our safety, and they have got to go. And so do these gangster-subsidizing prohibition laws.

Russell Barth

( Drugs pose one of the greatest threats to society )

They decide to print the letter but add the bullshit biased disclaimer at the end. I have never seen this in any other newspaper. Hey asswipes, if you have a problem with the assertions made by Mr. Barth, write your own editorial and prove him wrong. Don't add your kindergarten insults to the end of his letter. But it gets even better.

A prohibition-loving, jack-boot licker writes in to inform us of the dangers caused by marijuana. As if the dangers of marijuana had anything to do with the War on Drugs and why we continue to fight it. Here is the letter.

If nothing else, Russell Barth's over-the-top missives on marijuana are good for comedy relief.

Case in point? Insisting cops are out to violate the civil rights and liberties and anyone else who supports drug prohibition ... are a clear and present danger to society at large.

There are documented dangers of habitual marijuana use. Marijuana is at the root of many mental disorders. It has long been known to trigger attacks of mental illness, such as bipolar psychosis and schizophrenia.

As for cops pulling over impaired drivers (which include THC impaired): Cops look for bloodshot eyes, lack of co-ordination, slurred speech, dilated pupils, jerky eye tracking and the unmistakable stench of marijuana smoke among other things. If you don't want to get popped for impaired driving, don't drive impaired.

Karen Smith

Brechin

(Sounds like good advice)

Again the Ottawa Sun editors see fit to include their commentary in parenthesis, letting the world know that they agree that Russell Barth is a whack-job with crazy over the top ideas. He wants people to drive impaired! He wants people to come down with mental illnesses! He thinks cops are the bad guys! But nowhere in this letter does the writer bother to answer any of the assertions Mr. Barth made in his letter. Does she refute the fact that the War on Drugs increases the dangers of drugs and the profits of criminals? Does she deny that our jails are overflowing with non-violent offenders? Does she deny that drug prohibition does not make a significant dent in the supply of drugs? No, none of the points that Mr. Barth makes are addressed in the letter. She simply falls back on reefer madness and vague claims about mental illness.

Even if every single case of mental illness could be blamed on marijuana, it still wouldn't justify prohibition. Prohibition does not stop people from using drugs. Reefer madness and the hate heaped on drug users and addicts prevents them from seeking help if they do have an issue with drug dependency. Since marijuana use is here to stay whether we enforce prohibition or not we might as well legalize.

The Ottawa Sun is no better than the Tory government, with their ardent love for prohibition, the War on Drugs and reefer madness. Let's hope that we have another election and throw the bums out of office. Maybe, just maybe the Liberals will finally grow a pair and legalize once and for all, although I am not optimistic. They have proven to be just as cowardly and just as infected by reefer madness as the Tories.