Blowing Smoke

There has been a lot I want to take about this week. This entry will deal with that ever persistant debate over the legalization of marijuana. I for one am strongly opposed to this drug being legalized, or even decriminalized.

What really upset me was the protest held on Queen Park on this past weekend by a bunch of dazed and confused stoned hippies. They were all committing an illegal act while the cops just stood there doing nothing. They were protesting for the drug to be legallized.

I feel that we already have too many toxic subsistance in society that are legal. Look at all the people who smoke cigarettes and pop doctor perscribed happy pills to get themselves through the day. Does our society really need all these chemical substances to function? It is important to note that alcohol should be left out of the debate as certain alcoholic beverages such as red wine are beneficial and the fact that most people are not drinking to get a buzz.

Marijuana on the other hand is not a beneficial drug. People only smoke it to get high. I don't buy this medicinal crap either. If it's such a good pain killer, why not extract the active chemical and put it in pill form. Why, because it's not a pain killer. It just numbs the mind temporarily. I also don't buy the crap that it isn't addicted. I remember kids in highschool were addicted to it. Alcohol isn't physically addictive yet we have alcoholics. Marijuana is the same, it is a mental addiction. People's minds begin to crave it. I saw these kids go from being relatively bright melt into a false reality as the drug began to consume their lives. They disolve themselves into the drug culture and it becomes imposible for them to deal with their lives problems without some sort of chemical substance to perk them up or relax them. It's sad really.

But I digress. What really upsets me is the effects these people have had on our society. The selfishness of the high is destroying our civilization. They say that drugs do not hurt anybody or only hurt the person using them. This is perhaps the biggest understatement of all time. Tell that to all the people murdered because they were caught in the cross fire of gangs fighting over drug territory. Tell that to those killed in drug deals gone wrong. Tell that to the families who anguish because their loved ones were killed by these drug dealers or have fallen into the pits of dispair caused by the drugs.

Not let us not forget that drugs simply are not morally wrong. For every toke somebody takes, that costs society thousands of dollars. Thousands for police to catch the dealers, thousands the send them to jail, thousands to treat people in hospital who have ODed. People must learn to stop doing these drugs. So what should be done. First of all, I think we should eliminate jail sentences for drug possesion but rather require manditory drug rehabilitation in a secure treatment facility. We also need to crack down heavily on the dealers and throw them in jail longer. Let them know that society won't tollerate this. Legallizing weed or other drugs won't eliminate these problems as more people will only use it more, not to mention gangs smuggling it to the US. If Canada ever legalizes weed, I will leave this country as it will be one of the biggest mistakes we could ever make.