drug war
‘I want to scream’ Mexicans demand end to war on drugs
By Candice Vallantin, Toronto Star
MORELIA, MEXICO—The sun has just set on Plaza de Armas when Maria Trujillo, a woman with close cropped hair in her mid-50s, steps on the stage. Shaking, she holds a poster with photos of four men, aged 20 to 35.
“The pain and the impotence make me want to scream,” she says, her voice breaking. “I am the mother of four sons who disappeared. Today they were mine, but tomorrow, they could be yours.”
Trujillo’s brief, powerful speech in Morelia, capital of the state of Michoacan, marked the end of the first day of the Caravan for Peace, Justice and Dignity. Read more »
Canada, look to America’s truce in the drug war
Globe and Mail Editorial
On July 1, Connecticut will become the 14th American state to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, without going so far as to legalize the drug. It is in no way fitting that the new rules take effect on Canada Day. Canada continues to treat possession of marijuana for personal use as a crime, and to waste government resources on doing something about it.
It may surprise Canadians that so many states have moved to decriminalize marijuana – handing out fines akin to speeding tickets. At the state level, it has now become possible for legislators of both parties in the United States to admit that the war on drugs has been a costly failure. Read more »
National Post editorial board: Canada’s utterly failed drug policy
National Post editorial board
Canada received two urgent wake-up calls about its criminal justice system this week — one from Quebec, and the other from the international community. On Tuesday, Quebec Superior Court Justice James Brunton stayed proceedings against 31 people arrested two years ago on drug and gangsterism charges as part of Operation SharQc — a sweeping crackdown on the Hells Angels. He saw no way the accused could be tried before 2015. Canadians are, after all, entitled to a reasonably swift trial, and in the judge’s view, the system could not deliver. Read more »
Conrad Black: The case against being dumb on crime
By: Conrad Black, National Post
As I have written here before, I think the Harper minority government has done a generally competent job in quite difficult times. It is the contemporary, unflamboyant, no-frills or panache style, the type of regime exemplified by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nothing about Stephen Harper reminds us, for better or worse, of Barack Obama, Silvio Berlusconi, or even Nicolas Sarkozy, and most Canadians would not wish it otherwise. The government moved deftly through the financial crisis, has handled competing regional demands well, has a sensible foreign policy, has shown courage in its support of Israel and in the commitment to Afghanistan, and is generally a solid regime, if not a barrel of laughs. Read more »
The war on drugs is lost
By: Fernando Henrique Cardoso, The StarSAO PAULO—The war on drugs is a lost war, and 2011 is the time to move away from a punitive approach in order to pursue a new set of policies based on public health, human rights and common sense. These are the core findings of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy that I convened, together with former presidents Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and César Gaviria of Colombia.
World AIDS Day – December 1
Canadian Union of Public EmployeesDear Sisters and Brothers:
Another year has passed and we continue to mark World AIDS Day. HIV and AIDS remain a worldwide epidemic. This is especially appalling as HIV and AIDS can be eradicated. According to the United Nations, there are 33.4 million people living with HIV and numbers are rising in almost every region. Globally, women account for about 50 percent of people infected with HIV. In 2008, around the world, 430,000 children were born with HIV, bringing to 2.1 million the total number of children under 15 living with HIV. For every two people starting treatment for HIV a further five become infected. AIDS related illnesses are still a leading cause of death globally.
Latin American drug wars are our fault
By Dan Gardner, The Ottawa CitizenPlease allow me to put in print what an awful lot of Latin American politicians would like to say to their Canadian colleagues:
You know how the illicit drug trade has plagued the countries of Latin America for decades? You know how it spreads corruption, undermines governance, and distorts economies? You know how it stacks corpses like cordwood?
You know the carnage happening in Mexico right now? More than 26,000 people dead?
You know all that? Good. Because you are responsible.
Prison expansions boom to meet flood of inmates
OTTAWA — Prison expansion to make room for an expected inmate influx is moving ahead in Canada, with the federal government rolling out plans in recent days to spend $105-million on new cells at three prisons in Western Canada and one in Nova Scotia as part of a major building spree in the next few years.
The announcement of 600 new beds is the first stage of an expansive plan to build 2,700 new spots within three years to accommodate a projected 25% increase in prisoners being jailed as a result of Conservatives’ tough-on-crime legislation, which is expected to put more people in jail and keep them there longer.
Marijuana gateway risk overblown: study
CBC NewsLong-held fears that the use of marijuana will lead to harder drugs are overblown, according to new research from the University of New Hampshire.
The research, in the September issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, found that other factors, such as whether or not a person has a job, or is facing severe stress, are far more predictive of future hard drug use than whether they smoked pot as a teenager.
"Employment in young adulthood can protect people by closing the marijuana gateway, so over-criminalizing youth marijuana use might create more serious problems if it interferes with later employment opportunities," said co-author Karen Van Gundy.
Failed drug war tactics won't curb human smugglers
The StarPhoenixWhile Canadians justifiably have been preoccupied with a system that allowed 490 Sri Lankan Tamils to end up on West Coast after each paying human smugglers tens of thousands of dollars, the truly dark side of this odious industry came to light in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.
The bullet-riddled bodies of 72 migrants from Central and South America were found there last week, victims of human traffickers who disposed of their suddenly inconvenient human contraband as they might flush a bag of dope rather than get caught.
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