Harper government to unveil get-tough national drug strategy

I am not in the least surprised to discover that our "Health Minister" Tony Clement has just recently promised to unleash a get-tough war-on-drugs approach to fight the problems caused by drug abuse. The Conservative government showed it's opposition to sensible drug policies when it killed the Liberals' weak and mealy-mouthed marijuana decrim bill in 2004. The decrim bill was introduced in response to the Senate Committee report from 2001 that recommended the legalization of marijuana. Legalization would mean allowing cannabis to be regulated and sold in a similar manner to alcohol and cigarettes. Conservatives howled with outrage at the idea of legalization and the Liberals came up with a decrim bill that would increase the penalties for growers while at the same time decreasing the penalties for end users.

Since Clement is a knob he has a ridiculous and easily refuted set of talking points:

"There's been a lot of mixed messages going out about illicit drugs," Mr. Clement said in an interview Saturday after a symposium designed to bring together Canada's arts and health communities to combat mental health issues.

There's also a health-care cost element to suggesting to young people that using illicit drugs is OK, the minister said.

"The fact of the matter is they're unhealthy," Mr. Clement said.

"They create poor health outcomes."

Whether illegal drugs are dangerous or not is not the issue. Every illegal drug has different health effects on the human body, ranging from relatively benign in the case of marijuana to potentially deadly, in the case of crystal meth. What is disputed is the impact of the war on drugs. Drugs are cheaper and more potent than ever, thanks to prohibition. The law supports a thriving black market economy and wastes our resources. Despite the hard work of drug policy reform groups and the ignored Senate Report, the government has not yet figured it out. Prohibition is a complete and total failure.

At any rate, talk of sensible drug policy looks to be a thing of the past. The Globe and Mail looks at both sides of the drug policy debate and this is what opponents of the tough on crime measures have to say:

Dr. Martin says he's all for increasing penalties for people who sell illegal drugs, including gangsters, but wonders why the Tories would want to target users when he says similar strategies in other countries haven't worked.

"I can't understand why the Conservatives are embracing a war-on-drugs approach that has proven to fail," he said.

"By all means, go after the pushers. By all means, absolutely go after the organized crime gangs that are the real parasites in this situation," he added.

"But for heaven's sake, treat the user as a medical problem and adopt the solutions that have proven to work in other countries."

They couldn't find a single MP to state that the war on drugs is a failure. Where are the voices of politicians that think the whole thing stinks and legalize all drugs? What a bunch of cowardly, ineffectual, brainwashed knobs.

I despair at this upcoming federal election. My choices are going to be between dumb and dumber. Should I vote NDP or Green Party? Maybe I should just start my own country.