MarijuanaNews.com : The Royal Canadian Marijuana Police and DARE: Selling a Big-Time Fraud in Small Town Canada.

Posted May 1, 2001
(MarijuanaNews note: Canada has a much smaller problem with
politicized police than does DEAland – which is why I call it DEAland.

Nonetheless, the Mounties have their own narks, which I call the Royal Canadian
Marijuana Police. These, in turn, have their special prohibitionist propagandist
specialists, called “Drug Awareness” officers. Their DEAland counterparts are
called “Demand Reduction Coordinators.”
See
Paranoia and the Party Line on Medical
Marijuana. Who Do They Think They Are Fooling? The DEA and Bob Barr.

Their job is to lie to children, newspaper editors and others in their communities who
lack critical thinking skills. Unfortunately, lying to children undermines effective drug
education, and lying to editors prevents the development of effective drug polices for
society. The first item below is a prime example of this.)

For other examples see
Police Interference in the Canadian
Electoral Process. The Royal Canadian Marijuana Police Disinformation Campaign for
Marijuana Prohibition. Analysis by Richard Cowan.
and
“It’s Time To Declare Peace,”
Says Great Canadian Op-ed. But Can Canada Escape the DEAland Marijuana Prohibition Trap,
As the Mounties Lie To Keep the War Going? — 2 items
and
As Canadian Senate Gets Ready To Study
Prohibition, Canadian Police Push Prohibitionist Propaganda At Taxpayer Expense. 4 Items

April 27, 2001
From The Chilliwack Times
editorial@chilliwacktimes.com
http://www.chilliwacktimes.com/

(MarijuanaNews note: Chilliwack is a town in British Columbia.

Robert Sharpe, who works for the The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation in
Washington has been remarkably successful in getting his very well-written letters
published. The Chilliwack Times recently carried one in which he pointed out, “While
Canadian schools are just beginning to implement DARE, schools in the U.S. are dropping
the program. Every methodologically sound evaluation of DARE has found the program to be
either ineffective or counterproductive.”
See
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n715/a02.html

Of course, that is sacrilege to the DARE supporters in the police.
Hence the following…)

DARE ISN’T THE BE ALL AND END ALL
By Sgt Bob Hall RCMP Drug Awareness

Editor:
Let me clarify, DARE is very strong in the U.S. and President
Bush just declared April 11, National DARE day. This was to honour those communities,
schools and police officers taking part in preventing kids from using drugs.
(MarijuanaNews note: True enough. DARE is indeed “very strong
in the U.S.” However, that was not the question. The question is whether it is
effective, not whether it is “strong” or beloved of politicians. It is certainly
both.)

Critics of the DARE program generally fall into three categories; drug
legalization advocates, those who have their own drug prevention program and drug users.
COLOR=”#008000″>

(MarijuanaNews note: That ad hominem has been the DARE response to its
critics for years, even after they knew that it was not working. Here are three other
categories of critics, the US Surgeon General, the US National Academy of Sciences and the
President of DARE, Glenn Levant, who said, “I’m not saying it was effective, but it
was state of the art when we launched it.”
See
Even The Prohibitionists Are Attacking
DARE. What Is the Definition of Fraud? Analysis By Richard Cowan

It is not surprising to me that your story last week made it to the Lindesmith Center in
Washington DC because it advocates the legalization of marijuana. Does it make you wonder
why an organization from the U.S. would be so concerned about us in Chilliwack?
(MarijuanaNews note: It is more than a little disingenuous to
question why someone from “an organization from the U.S.” would raise questions
about the effectiveness of a US based organization. Also the RCMP works closely with
another “organization from the U.S” – the DEA. Also inasmuch as Canadians
care about what happens in Tibet, it is not too strange that the few Americans who know
where Canada is would care about its people and policies.)

I agree with Mr. Sharpe on a couple of points. Scare tactics don’t
work for all kids so that is why we don’t use them in DARE. I would also agree with
Mr. Sharpe on his point that the kids are being lied to about marijuana and you only need
to read the letter to the editor written by Denise Ford to see that
marijuana is a dangerous and addictive substance. See
below.

Doctors of Addiction Medicine in British Columbia also confirm this. Research shows
when the perceived risks of drug use is low, drug use rises and vice versa. When you talk
to our young people you will quickly find out their perception of risk is low and it is
because to the mixed messages they are hearing. I find it appalling to hear these messages
repeated by some 10- and 11-year-olds in this community.
See
An Excellent
Critique of DARE and “Drug Education” Misses One Key Point:
Lying About Marijuana Is Both Their Purpose and Their Undoing
and
How the War On
Marijuana To Save The Children
Has Become A War On the Children To Save Marijuana Prohibition

The short-term positive outcomes of DARE are well
supported in research. In fact, a research based guide to prevention identifies eight NIDA
( National Institute on Drug Abuse ) criteria for a successful program and DARE meets them
all. DARE was never developed to be a stand alone program. As any parent would know,
messages to our young people have to be consistent and reinforced to be effective. DARE is
a primary prevention program which should form part of a much larger prevention strategy
which promotes healthy, non-destructive behaviors. Let’s move on and prevent kids from
using drugs.

April 20, 2001
From The Chilliwack Times
editorial@chilliwacktimes.com
http://www.chilliwacktimes.com/
http://www.mapinc.org/media/1357
Author: Denise Ford
(MarijuanaNews note: An identical letter was published in the
Chilliwack Progress.)

POT USE DANGEROUS

Editor:

I am very upset over the attitude most people have towards using pot. In the Friday, April
13th issue the Times, when teens were asked if they would report
other teens using drugs, most responded with “If it’s just pot then probably
not.”

Where does this attitude come from? Pot is not what it was in the 60s, 70s or 80s.
See
Marijuana
Prohibition And Potency, Price, And Safety –
“Is Marijuana Stronger Than It Was Back In the ’60s, When Everyone Thought It Was
Harmless?” Analysis By Richard Cowan
and
RCMP Annual Report On the “Drug
Situation in Canada” Contradicts Staples Of the Prohibitionist Party Line. Exclusive
To MarijuanaNews.

It’s usually laced with other drugs or the plants are sprayed with stronger illegal drugs.

(MarijuanaNews note: That is nonsense, but it is also an argument
for legalization. Contamination is a characteristic of contraband markets, not an argument
for prohibition.)

I’d like to let these teens come to my home and witness the physical and mental anguish a
17-year-old is going through after four weeks of not taking
“just pot.”

I’d like these teens to tell him, “Hey man, pot can’t hurt you” when every
muscle and bone in his body is raging in pain, when he can’t sleep because his head pounds
incessantly and in the morning his whole body shakes for hours.
(MarijuanaNews note: Obviously, it is not marijuana withdrawal. Even
barbiturate withdrawal does not last for four weeks. The Drug Czar’s own Institute of
Medicine Report said, “A distinctive marijuana withdrawal syndrome has been
identified, but it is mild and short-lived.”
See
Executive
Summary Of The IOM Report, Marijuana And Medicine: Assessing The Science Base
and

COLOR=”#0000ff”>Is Marijuana Addictive?
Analysis By Richard Cowan

When I first read this, I just assumed that the boy did
not exist. I have become very cynical about the prohibitionists. However, if there really
is such a child, he should be given immediate medical help, which is free in Canada, and
this woman should be arrested for child endangerment.)

Tell him when the very sight of food makes his stomach churn and when he knows
the only relief is for him to go smoke a joint but he’s made a promise to himself to quit
the “just pot” so he can have a life. Tell him when he fights a mental battle
every moment with his addiction, when he blacks out or has memory losses.

I’d like those teens to go to Skid Row in Vancouver and ask each of the heroin addicts,
whose mere skeletal bodies crowd the alleys, how they got that way. Every time, the answer
will be “Oh, I started just with pot.”
(MarijuanaNews note: Excuse me, but if marijuana has such a dire
withdrawal syndrome, the people on skid row would not have “started just with
pot.” They would be there directly because of marijuana.)
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
Marijuana Legalization, The Missing Pillar
in Solving the Substance Abuse Problem in Vancouver and All of Canada. Analysis By Richard
Cowan

It’s time each of us opens our eyes and quit hiding behind the “just pot” is
okay slogan. Legalize it? . . .You’ve got to be kidding.
See

HREF=”http://www.marijuananews.com/marijuananews/cowan/legalize_marijuana_and_reduce_us.htm”>Legalize
Marijuana and Reduce Use?
New Survey Puts Estimate of Dutch Marijuana Use Even More Below DEAland
and

HREF=”http://www.marijuananews.com/marijuananews/cowan/legalize_marijuana_and_improve_h.htm”>Legalize
Marijuana and Improve High-School Academic Performance? Holland Ranks First – The US
Very Low

Not unless you want this young generation of “pot heads” to run our
country. Not me. I’m helping one teen at a time.
(MarijuanaNews note: How is she doing that? By depriving a seriously
ill child needed medical care because she has decided that he is going through
“marijuana withdrawal”? Of course, there are so many quacks in “addiction
treatment” that he may be getting “medical care” and suffering another
consequence of marijuana prohibition.)
Denise Ford,
Chilliwack

For more on marijuana prohibition in Canada and Canadian prohibitionist
propaganda see
Two Examples of Why “Bad
Journalism” Is Still the Best Two-Word Explanation for Marijuana Prohibition. DEAland
and Canadian Prohibitionist Propaganda.
and
Canadian Justice Minister’s Bizarre
Non-Response to Ottawa Citizen’s Dan Gardner.
and
UN Narks At It Again, Attack Canada’s
Punishment of Marijuana Growers As Only “A Slap on the Wrist.” Justice Minister
Grovels. “Critics Dismiss UN Drug Report As US – Driven”
and
Canadian Government’s Mindless
Response to Ottawa Citizen Series on Prohibition Seems to Indicate Acceptance of
“Decriminalization” of Marijuana.
and
How The New York Times Misleads Americans
About the Canadian Marijuana Situation.
and
Canada’s Globe and Mail Says They
Should “Go Dutch” – Is That the Way Out of the Marijuana Prohibition Trap?
Appeasing DEAland?
and
Canada’s Crime Rate Dropped In 1999 For
8th Consecutive Year Without Creating A Police State. But Marijuana Arrests Continue to
Climb. Alcohol Related Violence Soars in UK. Lessons for Everyone.
and
INS Report On Canadian Border Uses Numbers
to Deceive, But Ends by Contradicting Party Line.
and
There Are Already Almost 600,000 Canadian
Medical Marijuana Users, But Health Canada Has Only Approved 40 – 2 Articles With
Interesting Lesson In Spin.
and
Great Canadian Editorial Calls for
Legalization; Decries Justice Minister’s Giving Narks Veto Over Changing Marijuana Laws.
and
The Racist Origins Of Canada’s
Marijuana Prohibition Reported In the National Post.