Ottawa drug problem visible to all but the politicians.

Another blog by sicntiredIt came as a surprise that the drug scene in Ottawa was similar to the one in Vancouver.Crack cocaine was the drug of choice and up until the appointment of a new police chief it was out in the open as police had come to terms with the fact that it made no sense to seize drugs or paraphernalia as it just caused either the sharing of same or new crime to replace the seized drugs.Then the new police chief changed all that and began arresting the very addict traffickers that it had been decided over years of policy changes that it made no sense to chase.I'm sure the new policy put a lot of addicted people in prison for a while and drove the drug scene under cover.The simple fact is that there is currently a situation in this country in which harm reduction measures have been brought to a halt and are being fought against by a conservative government that has no time for studies,research or empathy.They want people arrested,jailed and kept in prison for as long as possible.The fact that we have been there already means nothing to Harper and friends.Vancouver,which had the first heroin maintenance program in North America,saw that project ended.The safe injection site has had to submit paper after paper after paper and all for naught as this government has no time for addicts,the homeless or the poor.We have seen the drug scene explode everywhere and the gang problem grow from nothing to where there are so many the police can't keep track.Marijuana could have been legal in this country if the then conservatives,led by Brian Mulroney,hadn't seen to it that the bill died on the floor of the house of commons.There was also no shortage of pressure from the US.Now it is the number one cash crop in the country and it is run by gangsters instead of being taxed and regulated by our government.Look at any drug in this country and it is a worse problem today in spite of efforts to control,eradicate or interdict it.Canada is now named by the UN as a source country for drugs like methamphetamine and ecstasy.This in spite of the millions of our tax dollars that have been and continue to be spent on a US led War on Drugs.No one can take a sane look at this situation and say we are making progress or even holding the line.Things continue to deteriorate at an alarming rate and with every step taken there are unintended consequences that just seem to cause things to get worse.It is time to call a halt to the madness and end prohibition in this country now.The US seems to be coming around to this position but so very slowly.There is no reason that we in this country should have to wait for them to make the changes necessary.There is too much to lose by continuing down the road we have been on for almost 100 years.