Posted March 26, 2001
Analysis by Richard Cowan.

Over the last several years I have occasion to document the RCMP prohibitionist
propaganda campaign in support of the war on marijuana.
See
RCMP Annual Report On the
“Drug Situation in Canada” Contradicts Staples Of the Prohibitionist Party Line.
Exclusive To MarijuanaNews.

Even Dan Gardner of the Ottawa Citizen has complained about the gullibility of the
Canadian media.
See
Author of Ottawa Citizen Series on
Prohibition Blames The Media for the Drug War. Great Journalism Is The Antidote.

However this practice is particularly offensive in British Columbia, where
marijuana prohibition is a major issue, and is being opposed by the
HREF=”http://www.bcmarijuanaparty.ca/”>BC Marijuana Party. in the upcoming provincial
elections.

On Saturday, the BC Marijuana Party held its first conference in its new
headquarters in Vancouver. It was a great success and there will be a full slate of
candidates in all of the provincial districts. The media coverage was generally passable,
except for one very odd part of a Canadian Press story that ran in several papers.

In that story, the CP editors somehow decided that they needed to ask the
opinion of the RCMP, with the following results:

“The party’s platform deals with everything from transportation to
education, but it’s main goal is the legalization of marijuana and that is a dangerous
message, police say.

‘They’re being irresponsible,’ said Const. Colleen Yee, of the RCMP Drug
Awareness unit in B.C.

The party’s message makes it more difficult to educate youth about the dangers
of drugs.
See
The Clichés of Prohibitionism:
“Sending the Wrong Message.”

Marijuana is more toxic and carcinogenic than cigarettes, she said, but while
cigarettes are less and less accepted by society, pot advocates want to legitimize smoking
marijuana.

These advocates are increasingly organized and well-funded and their message
may be getting out.

‘Public perception seems to be. . . more lax on marijuana than it is on
cigarettes,’ Yee said.

This is a bizarre argument, but it is worth noting that, according to the
Canada’s Addiction Research Foundation, alcohol costs Canadian
health care nearly half-a-billion dollars a year. Tobacco costs roughly one billion.
Marijuana costs provincial health care $8 million each year.

If marijuana is more dangerous than tobacco, where is the cost? Where are the
bodies?

The RCMP should not be involved in Canadian partisan politics, but it certainly
should not be lying to the Canadian people as a part of that campaign.
See
Saving the Law from Law Enforcement.
Ending the Police State Fraud. Analysis by Richard Cowan

Of course, one must wonder why Canadian Press thought it necessary to ask a nark for an
opinion on a political party. They did not ask the RCMP about the Canadian Green
Party’s opposition to marijuana prohibition.

Elections happen every few years but the prohibitionist propaganda is non-stop.
In rural areas and small towns, the RCMP prohibitionist propaganda campaign is even more
pernicious.

Consider these two recent examples.

In a March 21st story about police raids on some indoor growing
operations in the Duncan B. C., News Leader this statement is attributed to the RCMP:

“Figures released by the RCMP claim 43
per cent of people who smoke pot before age 18 eventually go on to use cocaine.”

However, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s 1999 Ontario Student Drug
Use Survey, shows that 43% — coincidentally – of high school seniors have used
marijuana in the last year. That means that something in excess of that number have used
marijuana some time before their 18th birthday. If the RCMP’s numbers were
correct — and 43% of those “go on to use cocaine” — then roughly 20% of
Canadian young adults would be current cocaine users. There is no data to support this,
but if it were true, it would merely prove that Canadian marijuana prohibition is an even
worse failure than we had realized.
See
“Those
who insist on keeping the plant illegal bear a serious degree of moral responsibility for
young marijuana users who do go on to use cocaine, heroin, PCP or other genuinely
dangerous or addictive drugs.”
Alan Bock, of the Orange County Register On the Real Gateway

And then there is the following letter that I wrote to the editors of the
Ladysmith-Chemanius Chronicle in Ladysmith, BC. The important part
is the editor’s note at the end.

Published on March 6, 2001
Editor:
The Chronicle’s article “An Ounce of prevention” Feb. 27, said,
COLOR=”#ff0000″>“Marijuana’s THC content is about 10 times greater than it was in
the ’60s. It is now up to about 20 per cent, when previously it was down around two per
cent.”

Well, this would be news to the RCMP, which says that the average potency of Canadian
cannabis has been around six per cent THC for several years.

Also there is no data on average potency for the ’60s.

It is precisely this kind of prohibitionist propaganda that undermines the credibility of
all drug education.

For more information on this see RCMP
Annual Report On the “Drug Situation in Canada” Contradicts Staples Of the
Prohibitionist Party Line

Richard Cowan
MarijuanaNews.com
Editor’s note: the information brought into question by
Mr. Cowan was provided by local RCMP, during an presentation to Ladysmith parents on
drugs.

In otherwords, the local RCMP officer was telling the parents something that contradicted
the RCMP’s own data!

The point is that the RCMP narks are engaged in a massive prohibitionist
propaganda campaign aimed at influencing Canadian marijuana policies and now that there is
a direct challenge to their power by the BC Marijuana Party, they are actively engaged in
partisan politics.
See
Great Canadian Editorial Calls for
Legalization; Decries Justice Minister’s Giving Narks Veto Over Changing Marijuana Laws.

That is a very real threat to Canadian democracy, and is certainly undermining
efforts to implement humane and effective drugs policies.
See
Marijuana Legalization, The Missing Pillar
in Solving the Substance Abuse Problem in Vancouver and All of Canada. Analysis By Richard
Cowan

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