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.

Some people are just plain scary

Another blog by sicntired        Being somewhat of a paranoid,I like to watch certain political viewpoint shows.Especially when the Queen bitch of surrey takes the stage.Ms Watts,as anyone that's followed her career for 5 minuits knows,never saw a camers she didn't like.She took to the air on Vaughn Palmer's Voice of B.C.(Vaughn was on holiday),last week and it didn't take long before she showed her true colors.On a talk about heralth care and I'm paraphrasing here,she let it slip thaty in her opinion people who have made bad choices at one point in their lives,should have to pay in some way for those bad decisions.Most politico's have the sense to measure their words and attempt to mitigate the effects of their personal prejudices.Not so with Ms.Watts.It might be refreshing if she wasn't so intolerant and didn't have such a twisted hatred of those in society who have ,for whatever reason,fallen into the trap of addiction.What Ms.Watts was saying and I say this after years of listening to her rants about addicts and addiction,was that people with addictions shouldn't have the same access to health care as others as they have self inflicted wounds.Project this onto a fat person with type 2 diabetes,a failed suicide,a drunk with a bad liver.I'm not saying that this politician would include all of those,she probably doesn't even see the corelation.This woman went to Europe with a pre conceived vision and came back saying that her vision was correct.She went to one country,Italy,which has been long noted for it's failures and brutal repression of addicts,and assured everyone that she had found the perfect solution.You have to forgive prohibitionists as they are fighting against 100 years of failed policy and are still shouting as loud as they can that we just have to try harder.Einstein defined such strategy as insanity.I'll leave that up to dear reader to decide.The fact is,there are still people out there who are in positions of power who are projecting their own personal agendas on everyone else in spite of all the evidence to the contrary.

Failure to learn from history.

Another blog  It's something that makes one wonder ;should I laugh or cry.The United States passed the 19th ammendment and caused the expansion and growth of a mafia that was a tiny problem that mainly existed in the Italian sections of major cities.By the time they passed the 22nd it was a world wide criminal enterprize with enough money and influence to effect the second world war,elect presidents and to send one of their sons to be president.Drug lords have already offered to write off the entire debt of a South American country and the largest state in the union.Marijuana growing is one of if not the major business in B.C.Like with alcohol prohibition,there will always be times when disagreements will cause violent outbreaks amongst gangster groups.The worst of these always come after a major player is removed from the scene.Police never do anything in a planned action but,rather react to situations in which they have at best faulty information.Is a gangster cooperating to reduce the opposition?To eliminate a powerful adversary?The police are so far behind in this city because they denied the problem for so long.They reacted with ire when outside help was offered.Now we have a bunch of politicians chasing their tails because people are angry.People are always angry.Thats why we have a seperate and Indapendant judiciary.People experienced with the law and it's applications.It's always easiest to make tough speeches and toughen laws.All that ever does is take rights away from us all with no effect on those who opperate beyond the law.It's sad that with another failed and unpopular prohibition just 90 years back that our politicians seem oblivious to it's consequences.I could point to claims and speeches that these same politicians were making just 10 years ago that had this problem under control.Don't blame the judges.They have seen abuses on both sides of the law.If the laws prohibiting drugs from adult p[ossession were ended tomorrow,these gangs would move somewhere else where fools still think a drug free world is a possibility.Prohibition is a lie propagated by people making billions off of it.Heroin,like alcohol is a disease.All these problems have answers.Prohibition is the absolute worse approach possible.It won't get any better.You don't fight something that will grow almost anywhere by passing a law.Opium is thousands of years old.Even the police know this.they're just scared to say it out loud.

We can only wait and see

Another blog by sicntired With the recent election of the Obama/Biden team in the US and the various victories and defeats of the various drug reform measures,it's a toss up as to where the dog is going.That the tail is dragging us down a disastrous path is beyond a doubt.We saw what born again agenda's can do with 8 years of GWBush.Biden was an unfortunate choice as VP as his record as the flag carrier of the anti drug forces is well documented.We all have heard about Obama's former drug use and that makes him a living example of just how harmless a drug experiment can be.If a reasonably intelligent person looks at the whole drug situation it's fairly obvious that the majority of the damage and all of the criminal activity is as the direct result of the prohibition of drugs.If government was dumb enough to once again try to introduce the prohibition of alcohol,the death and organzed distribution would begin before the ink was dry on the paper the bill was written on.It's amazing that people just can't seem to make the connection.It's sad but I did say it takes a person of reasonable intelligence.Governments have all the demographics on just who and where the more intelligent people live and they aim their material at the rest.What will Obama do about the drug war and prison over crowding and jail time for minor drug offences?We'll just have to wait and see.Biden is attempting to reverse the 100-1 sentencing disparity on crack cocaine but who was the monster that thought such a travesty up in the first place?It's so obviously racist that it's become a world wide embarrasment.Too bad people won't take the time to look up the origines of current drug laws and the racism jumps out and slaps you right in the face.You can find all such information at drugsense .org or at stopthedrugwar.org.Both sites contain a wealth of information and links to other sites.If you agree,it'll show you you're on the right side of the issue.If you're against drug reform,it'll open your eyes to the racist and fear mongering that keeps the drug war wheels spinning in place year after year.

Busted-another drug war ad

Another blog by sicntired I was watching the news and all of a sudden there was a bust unfolding before my eyes.I soon realized it was another television program designed to promote the drug war and show the dangers of doing drugs.It turned out to be a pretty good way of exposing just how putrid the drug war really is.The people they showed being busted were young and fairly clueless.They were obviously doing the program as part of their punishment for being caught with pot.They all kept saying how scared they were,in fact that was pretty much the only truth the program displayed.The busts were all typical police harassment resulting in petty pot busts of less than a gram.They even had a pop up display saying that even traces were enough for an arrest.One of the guys was a third time arrest and had to make a statement as to how he was glad he was popped as it forced him to change his life direction.He seemed like a decent person and aside from the fact that he was facing up to 20 years in prison for a felony drug arrest(he only had a small amount but it was #3{?}).He was as sincere as he could muster and there was no doubt that he was scared but you could tell he was more pissed off than sorry.Who could blame him?One minute he was minding his own business and the next the cops kicked in his door and now he was looking at 20 years for pot.The other cases were far more petty than that and the people were still just as scared.The show proved one thing;that people should be very cautious when driving while young or black in the USA.The cops were all predators looking for young people partying as they knew they'd have marijuana.The arresting officer in case #2 even said that he was looking for young partiers and that he was sure he'd find marijuana.The people in the car were black.They were well groomed young people and looked as clean as anyone I've ever seen.Just that fact alone should tell people something.Is everyone out there a criminal or are the police looking for trouble where there is none.I know they always say they're just doing their jobs.It was very clear that they saw putting a kink in a young persons life as part of that job.None of the people shown on this show were criminals in the true sense of the word.They were victims of a society that lives by do as I say and not as I do.The cops on this show all seemed like the true believers.These are people who actually believe that all drugs are bad and they are saving the world.They would arrest their own mothers.I can't see how any one can watch this kind of program with anything but outrage.Like it's twin ,"cops",this show demonstrated how the drug war is a war on the poor,the young and the colored.Most people on cops are at least doing real crime.This show is all about young people and how a drug arrest can ruin your life.No question about that but what would have happened if the cop had really just done his job instead of going miles out of his way to find a problem?None of the people arrested looked like they were a menace to society.Quite the opposite.These were young people out to enjoy their youth and trying to have some harmless fun.At least they weren't out drinking and driving.People who say that people that smoke pot shouldn't drive a car.They obviously have never smoked and driven a car.The worst thing you'll do is drive way too slow.Pot does not a dangerous driver make.Impeding traffic,yes.Dangerous,no.I do not recomend driving high.It can be far scarier than it's worth.Just wait an hour and you're good to go anyway.If you're looking for a little insight into what's wrong with the war on drugs,watch a show called; Busted.

Wall Street Bailout is Main Street sellout

Try to limit huge pay packages for CEO's was the way it started and it just got worse from there.We will try to get Americans some of their investment back.The idea is to buy up toxic debt and sell it off when the economy gets going.This is outrageous and not in anybodies interest but the felons that laughed and joked their way into this crisis in the first place.Tapes have been heard in which these same Wall street bandits can be heard joking that they hope they're retired and long gone before this house of cards comes tumbling down.Paulson,when confronted with such avarice was visibly embarrassed but not embarrassed enough to retract his support for this theft of the American taxpayer.People,this is a travesty but it's not totally out of your hands.There can still be a reckoning here and it will come on income tax deadline day.The charlatans at the FED will have to release the plan and exactly how much each American taxpayer will have to kick in.Simply deduct it from your tax return and explain that you will have no part of bailing out the criminals of wall street.They can attack a few hold outs but recent polls have demonstrated their hatred and anger over this unjust and corrupt peice of legislation to the tune of 45% of those polled.You have the numbers and you know that the collusion between wall street and the beltway is conspiring to defraud you of a considerable chunk of cash.Are you going to let these carpetbaggers steal your hard earned money for the next few decades?They are addmitting right from the start that most of this money is toxic debt.That means it's beyond useless.The only message sent to wall street is that there is not one peice of this bill that increases regulation or restrictions on their conduct and it's business as usual with all bad behavior forgiven.Take this and you are fools,without the intestinal fortitude to stand up to a corrupt and out of control government that pays nothing but lip service to the people and that they can lie to you and you'll just take it.Are they right?

Israel has too much blood lust

Another blog by sicntired Today an Arab contractor lost it and razed a street before he was gunned down by an 18 year old kid who grabbed a cops gun and fired point blank into the driver.The man had taken his earthmover and was crushing cars and pushing buses over.A soldier then fired an automatic weapon into the dead body.That's not the reason for the header.Every one has the right to defend themselves.The leader,Ehud Olmert,demanded that the mans home be demolished and his family ,who knows.Israel has forgotten how they got to be a country in the first place.Now they condem arabs for fighting for their homeland the same way the jews did in 1947.The 10 to 1 kill ratio and the treatment of the Arab people is outrageous.Only the US with blinders on at all times and the Harper neocons support this outlaw regime.The so called war on terror is nothing but an apologist view of the middle east come home to haunt the perpetrators.There will be no peace until there is a settlement in the middle east.As long as our governments support the israelis no matter how brutal their approach,there will be the danger of a people with nothing to lose.acting like they have nothing to lose.