How to get drugs off the street
Re: Just Legalize It, Tyson Lowrie; Toronto Needs Supervised Injection Sites, David McKeown; Focus On Harm Reduction, Katrina Pacey and Donald MacPherson, all, March 17. Tyson Lowrie suggests that the Liberals make good on their election promise to “legalize” marijuana by simply removing it from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, instead of endless studies, and implementing an horrendous regulatory framework around it, under the auspices of former Toronto police chief Bill Blair.
The Liberals have a history of creating monolithic government institutions that are at once intrusive, ineffective and costly, and worse, have unintended consequences. The gun registry comes to mind. The problem is that any regulatory framework will insist on registering casual users, and then the problems begin.
Car, life and health insurance, health- care services, and even traffic stops will be “enhanced” with the registry information. Worse than any of this is the fact that whether you partake in recreational cannabis or not, you will most certainly be footing the bill for the intractable and inefficient bureaucracy that allows it.
Robert S. Sciuk, Wellesley, Ont. Toronto’s medical officer of health makes a misguided plea for public acceptance of expending health taxes by wanting to support drug addicts’ nasty habits. Citing unnamed stud- ies and his personal beliefs that helping “vulnerable” addicts getting high is a good thing to do hardly sits well in the face of cancer victims being denied certain drugs and abominable wait times in understaffed hospitals. David McKeown’s priorities would be far better directed to helping the hundreds of thousands suffering from unforeseen illnesses rather than the few hundred choosing to self-inject their own vile malady.
R. Michaels, Burlington, Ont. Our new progressive Liberal governments want to legalize drug usage with injection centres, pot sales at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, and who knows what else. Soon I will be able to light up or shoot up at my favourite restaurant, but I can get hit with a fine for lighting up a Cuban cigar. The progressive Liberals seem to think drugs are better. If they want to get drugs off the street, they need to take the money out the distribution and sale.
This can be done by legalizing them and distributing at a fair cost to the public, then spend money to clean up the damage they cause or make it so painful to be part of the distribution network the flow stops. I favour the latter as I do not believe giving the kids a place to shoot up will not fix the problem. If I am to be included in sunny ways, I am demanding the return of sanctioned cigar smoking patios at golf courses and restaurants. It is only fair and progressive.
Bob Welling, Mississauga, Ont.