First:		Last:
Email: *		Postal Code: *

People of Newfoundland and Labrador demand: Vote No on C-15

View
Edit
Delete

Title: *

Email Message: *

Bill C-15 is a dangerous and radical change in Canadian drug policy that will further enrich gangsters, create more violence on our streets and assuredly fail to reduce either the demand for, or the availability of, drugs in our society.

This statement may seem bold. But it is backed by the preponderance of available science. Comprehensive studies published by the Senate of Canada, the Canadian Department of Justice, the European Commission, the US Congressional Research Service, the Fraser Institute, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and the Rand Corporation all support the view that mandatory minimum sentencing for drug offences are useless at best. At worst, these policies will increase the dangers associated with the drug markets and, therefore, the chaos created on our streets.

The types of mandatory sentences contained in Bill C-15 have been UTTER FAILURES in the United States. There is no evidence that harsher penalties affect drug use rates or the supply of drugs on the streets. Nor do such sentences appear to deter prohibition-related violence. Instead of seeing success from its mandatory sentencing policies, the United States has become the world's largest jailer with 1 in every 99 adults in custody. The United States has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the world's prisoners. Many of those persons are serving time for non-violent drug offences. Bottom line: the United States has some of the harshest sentencing regimes in the non-totalitarian world while also suffering from the highest rates of drug use, the highest violent crime rates and the richest, most powerful gangs. Instead of serving a positive purpose, Bill C-15 will increase the power of organized crime and the violence associated with the illegal drug markets.

Indeed, the very idea of mandatory minimum sentences relies on assumptions that are simply false. There is no evidence of any deterrent effect on organized criminals: these people are already willing to risk arrest, prosecution, incarceration and, indeed, a violent death from other criminals in order to make the huge profits associated with high-level drug trafficking. There is no evidence of deterrent effect on street-level dealers: these people are often addicted to the substances they sell and commit the crime out desperation driven by their addiction to very expensive drugs. Worse, while Bill C-15 purports to target "serious" drug offences, its terms apply to even very minor offences such as growing a few marijuana plants. This helps no one in our society.

Increasing the risk (harsher sentences) associated with a behaviour (drug crime) only prevents that behaviour so long as the benefit (profit) stays the same. In the case of drug sales, harsher sentencing may increase the street price and therefore the profit of dealing drugs. This phenomenon of prohibition guarantees that the supply of individuals who will commit these crimes is virtually unlimited. I have personally seen this in action.

The drug wars in Mexico and Vancouver only serve to exemplify these issues. Latin America generally, and Mexico specifically, have been the focus of intense interdiction efforts for decades, yet cocaine is still as available as ever. What has changed is simply that drug lords now control vast swaths of territory. Afghanistan is another example: despite a massive military presence, the supply and availability of opium is at record levels, while organized criminals (working for or with the Taliban) control more of the country every year.

Indeed, the evidence is that the prohibition of drugs has been a complete and total failure. Drugs are as available today as they have ever been. Drug use is higher in countries that have harsher sentences and penalties, and lower in countries without such penalties. The only real effect of increasing penalties is increasing prison populations and levels of violence on the streets.

Our teenagers report that it is easier to access illegal substances such as marijuana than regulated substances such as tobacco or alcohol. Why? Because alcohol and tobacco stores (usually) check ID and drug dealers never do. Teenage tobacco smoking rates have decreased due to effective regulation and education, while at the same time teenage marijuana smoking rates have increased because of no regulation and misleading education.

If you vote for C-15 you are guaranteeing higher profits for gangs, more violence on our streets, unregulated access by teenagers, and the continued supply and availability of drugs. Bill C-15 is a step in the wrong direction. Ironically, it comes just as the United States is amending and repealing many of that country's mandatory sentencing regimes. Bill C-15 is not a solution to the problems caused by the prohibition markets.

On the other hand, it is possible to take steps to reduce instead of increase the influence and power of organized crime. A good first step would be to tax and regulate marijuana. Doing so would create tax revenues for government, cause a massive decrease in profits for organized criminal groups, and result in savings to society and government of billions annually. A further benefit would be the regulation of a currently unregulated marketplace, complete with age limits and reasonable time, place and manner restrictions.

Currently, marijuana offences comprise more than three-quarters of all drug crimes. This drains police resources that are better spent elsewhere. Under a regulated market, police would have resources freed up to investigate violent crimes and property offences. This benefits us all. Bill C-15 does nothing to address this problem. Indeed, it makes it worse.

Passing C-15 would be costly and dangerous to Canadians and Canadian society. There is no research or experience that demonstrates this legislation will do anything else. I urge you to prevent the passage of this bill by whatever means possible. Don't endanger Canadians. Don't vote for C-15.

Note: This text will be followed by the participant's contact information.

Send Message To: *

Use a comma to separate addresses. Make sure the above email addresses are valid to avoid campaign suspension.

Post to twitter.com

Announce this post on Twitter

The given text will be posted to twitter.com. You can use !domain, !url, !url-alias, !tinyurl, !title and !user as replacement text.

Account:

Put personal statements at top of letter

File attachments

Changes made to the attachments are not permanent until you save this post. The first "listed" file will be included in RSS feeds.

Attach new file:

The maximum upload size is 8 MB. Only files with the following extensions may be uploaded: jpg jpeg gif png txt doc xls pdf ppt pps odt ods odp swf mp3.

Printer, e-mail and PDF versions

The settings below only apply in case the corresponding type-specific setting is also enabled (except for the "Show link in individual comments").

Printer-friendly version

Show link

Show link in individual comments

Show Printer-friendly URLs list

Send by e-mail

Show link

Show link in individual comments

Show Printer-friendly URLs list

PDF version

Show link

Show link in individual comments

Show Printer-friendly URLs list

Domain access options

Publishing options:

Send to all affiliates

Select if this content can be shown to all affiliates. This setting will override the options below, but you must still select a domain that "owns" this content.

Publish to: *

WhyProhibition.ca

Legalize BC

Beyond Prohibition Foundation

EndProhibition

Jacob Hunter

House of Mouse

Free Marc

Why Prohibition Mobile

G420

Kirk Tousaw

cannabis dispensary

Select which affiliates can access this content.

Source domain:

This affiliate will be used to write links to this content from other affiliates, as needed.

Notifications

Do not send notifications for this update.

Groups

Audience:

Show this post in these groups.

Public

Show this post to everyone, or only to members of the groups checked above. Posts without any groups are always public.

Menu settings

Menu link title:

The link text corresponding to this item that should appear in the menu. Leave blank if you do not wish to add this post to the menu.

Parent item:

The maximum depth for an item and all its children is fixed at 9. Some menu items may not be available as parents if selecting them would exceed this limit.

Weight:

Optional. In the menu, the heavier items will sink and the lighter items will be positioned nearer the top.

Authoring information

Authored by:

Leave blank for Anonymous.

Authored on:

Format: 2009-06-15 09:09:52 -0700. Leave blank to use the time of form submission.

Revision information

Create new revision

Log message:

An explanation of the additions or updates being made to help other authors understand your motivations.

Publishing options

Published

Promoted to front page

Sticky at top of lists

URL path settings

Automatic alias

An alias will be generated for you. If you wish to create your own alias below, uncheck this option. To control the format of the generated aliases, see the automated alias settings.

Optionally specify an alternative URL by which this node can be accessed. For example, type "about" when writing an about page. Use a relative path and don't add a trailing slash or the URL alias won't work.

Comment settings

Disabled

Read only

Read/Write

Main Page | Sign Up | Contact Us | Email your Senators! | User Blogs | User Groups | Research Articles

About WhyProhibition.ca
Contact WhyProhibition.ca
Get Active
Scientific Research
Videos
Activist Groups
Downloads

Topics: Bill S-10 | Marc Emery Extradition | Marijuana | Prostitution | Psychedelics | Harm Reduction

Welcome to WhyProhibition.ca. We are working to repeal the prohibition of cannabis by organizing and educating the public. Sign up to get alerts, and access to organizing tools.

Sign Up

Already signed up? Login Below:

WhyProhibition.ca

Post a new
- News Item
- Event
- Group
- Email Campaign
- Research Article
- Blog
- Handbill
- Petition
- Photo Album
- Task
Friends
Recruit your friends
Administer
CiviCRM
Petitions

User login

Log in using OpenID:

What is OpenID?

Username or e-mail: *

Password: *

Log in using OpenID
Cancel OpenID login

Create new account
Request new password

Create Email Campaign
Create Petition
Create Photo Album
Create Event
Create New Post
Create Group Feed
Create Page
Create Side Banner
7 members
Manager: Helene

Group files

Who's online

There are currently 0 users and 212 guests online.

Recent members

Helene admin
Marcel Bry
Jacqueline Clarke
simone.d
kmacdonald67
Amelia
Kenn Canning

Group notifications

This group offers an RSS feed. Or subscribe to these personalized, sitewide feeds:

All posts:
- Feed
- Page

NL

Recent Items

News
Blogs
Comments

FOX40 Airs Nation's First Medical Marijuana Advertisement

2 days 6 hours ago
Proposition 19 is the right direction

2 days 6 hours ago
We Are All Californians

2 days 6 hours ago
N.M. Wants To Charge $1,000 For Pot Growing License; 7% Tax

2 days 6 hours ago
6-month delay for medical marijuana permits stressful: MD

2 days 8 hours ago
Canadian Medical Association Journal article backs drug injection site

2 days 8 hours ago
Inside the World’s Deadliest City

2 days 8 hours ago

1 of 490
››

Best of summer infant baby monitor

2 days 16 hours ago
marijuana witch-hunt

5 days 22 hours ago
Legalize our Medicine!

6 days 6 hours ago

1 of 27
››

reply
3 hours 53 min ago
reply
1 day 12 hours ago
respond this post
1 day 14 hours ago
Really?
1 day 21 hours ago
We need to act now.
2 days 6 hours ago
Free Marc Emery Rally in
2 days 9 hours ago
Marc Emery Support Day Mobilization - September 18
3 days 13 hours ago
respond this topic
3 days 16 hours ago
respond this topic
5 days 16 hours ago
I would be there in support,
6 days 10 hours ago

Current Campaigns:

Free Marc Emery

World-Wide Rallies

September 18, 2010

Stop Bill S-10

Canada-Wide Rallies

October 2, 2010

212 / 0
Content management
Site building
Organic groups
Site configuration
Affiliated content
Messaging & Notifications
SMS Framework
User management
civicrm_proximity_relations
Reports
Help
CiviCRM