To the editor,
The war on drugs is finally over. Yippee. Sorry, but we lost. The winners, let’s hear it for them, are the drug dealers and anyone who wants or needs drugs. It’s out there, it’s everywhere.
Apart from Nanaimo bars we have gained notoriety for being the worst community on the Island for break-ins with a grand total of, ta da, 11,698 crime incidents in 2018. The underworld is laughing at us underlings as we struggle to cage and tame this wild animal that ravages our towns and cities.
Let’s face it, we can only succumb to the drug problem and either try and stop its flow (impossible) or guide and coerce its reality with some semblance of rational and reasonable intelligence. We are off to a good start having legalized cannabis but with overhead, government restrictions and employee salaries competing with the guy on the street corner it is a sad joke. Justin Trudeau says we will keep it out of the hands of children; however, to no one’s surprise, it’s worse than ever. The only result apart from a tax grab is that nice law-abiding, respectable seniors are reliving their lost youth.
So, what is the solution? Simple. Make drugs available to anyone who wants them for free. Yes, free. While reducing the costs of law enforcement, incarceration, court time, vandalism and break-ins, etc., we can easily pay for our prolific offenders to enjoy a toke or a hit now and again under the supervision of trained medical staff. Our communities would be safer, drug dealers would be hard-pressed to stay in business and druggies would have reduced stress levels in their lives and we could all be happy, safe and content. Now, where did I leave my toking pipe?
Ronald Coup, Nanaimo
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