For almost 50 years, British Columbia had a dozen opium dispensaries in several
cities paying high fees to government. The opium was mild and cheap; there were
few social problems. But the Canadian government rescued British Columbia from
its errors by making opium illegal. Business people were now labelled
criminals. Without access to courts they had to enforce contracts on their own
through violence. Smuggling required concentrated product.
Opium became morphine, became heroin, became fentanyl. Prohibition restricted
supply which raised prices and created windfall profits for criminals and a
lucrative business model. Get one person addicted and you get an annuity for life.
To pay for increased prices addicted people resorted to prostitution and
theft. Since stolen goods only get ten cents on
the dollar they had to steal ten times as much value to pay their bills.
Businesses lost inventory and hired security guards. Citizens locked their
doors, bought costly security systems and demanded increased police budgets. Was
Ottawa successful? Today around 1 billion dollars in illegal drugs are sold in
British Columbia each year. Police are unable, sometimes unwilling, to shut down
well-funded crime groups that include some of the most vicious criminals.
Schoolchildren get drugs delivered faster than pizzas. It costs $100,000 to
keep a dealer or addict in jail for one year. Jails are institutions of higher
learning for drug criminals. Housed and fed in a safe environment, many
relationships are formed there. They learn from each other how to be more
effective criminals and they have high status when they're released. All paid
for by you the tax payer. Our emergency services are so busy
dealing with addiction that services to the general population has suffered.
Terrorists gained control of drug production in Afghanistan and other
countries. Profits were used to undermine local governments and ultimately attack
the West. Drug laws play a role in funding terrorists. Enormous profits
glamourize criminality, attracting more young people. They make so much money
gang members are willing to shoot each other on the street for it. 1,000 British
Columbians die of overdose every year because the government can't ensure the
quality of an illegal product. Several teenagers die every month. The drug
problem reveals weaknesses in democracy. Our majority rules system marginalizes
minority groups and caters to a superiority complex. The worse the
problem gets the more knee-jerk the reaction is. Voters demand simplistic
solutions that make the problem worse. 12 years ago,
as Mayor of Vancouver, I proposed a solution CAST Chronic Addiction
Substitution Treatment. Its main goal to eliminate organised crime by taking away
its profits. The best way to kill an industry is called dumping. Under CAST
if anyone becomes addicted the government immediately takes over the
supply depriving criminals of their money. This type of program has operated
in Switzerland since 1998. Vancouver has a program but with too few people. What
if the 'government-knows-best' moralists had not decided to save us in 1908. Would
we still have opium dispensaries operating without social problems?
Contributing not taking away from our tax dollars? Let us stop this costly and
destructive path we've been on for over a hundred years
and restore health to our communities.
For more infomation >> Proposal Would Allow Mass. Doctors To Force Opioid Patients Into Treatment | NBC Nightly News - Duration: 2:22. 
For more infomation >> Dr. Mehra talks about developments in Alzheimer's treatment - Duration: 3:25. 
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