Vancouver mayor Greg Robertson and four former Vancouver mayors from clear across the political spectrum joined forces to plead with Prime Minister Harper to change the direction of Canada's futile war on drugs.
Over 75,000 people in Canada get caught up in the criminal justice system every year because of marijuana related crimes, which wouldn't be crimes if the government decriminalized pot.
The mayors, who presumably have some first hand knowledge of the destructive effects of Canada's draconian drug policies, are united in their conviction that the current laws are counterproductive, ineffective, and outrageously expensive to enforce.
Harper replied that his government was very concerned with the spread of drugs and would continue to make every effort to ensure that the nation's children were safe from the temptations of drug use. In other words, he intends to double up on the policies that have been failing for at least fifty years.
After all, 75,000+ cases a year is a tremendous amount of busy-work for an awful lot of people. From cops to counsellors to lawyers to judges to prison guards, a lot of people have a lot to lose if Canada adopts a sane approach to drug use.
The Harper government intends to ensure job security for those people by introducing tougher sentences for pot infractions in the omnibus crime bill it is currently forcing through parliament.
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