Of what? I thought this was a technology type blog? Yah – well, maybe that’s going to change. Sometimes I feel like sharing the rest of my opinionated self with the 3 other people who read this rubbish.

I’m from Canada (albeit in Singapore right now) – so I’m not really much of a stranger to being around drugs or being offered drugs. I’ll say straight off the bat that I’m no druggy. Never touched ‘em or used ‘em, but try walking along Granville one day downtown Vancouver without passing a group of at least 8 dudes stoned out of their tree on pot, playing an awful guitar. Or try walking along East Hastings without seeing a bunch of folks AWOL on heroin.

At any rate, a good friend of mine tossed me this link (Google video, about an hour, BBC documentary on drug legalization) and it got me all riled up again (this isn’t something I’ve gotten riled up about in quite some time).

The two big sides of this debate seem to always surround issues of legalizing drugs or not legalizing drugs. However, I would like to propose a third alternative, that I wish to high heaven some of the stupider governments of this world (Canada, USA, UK) would adopt. It’s quite simple really – are you ready?

Punish Criminals

There. Is that so hard? One of the reasons why I love Singapore, is that if you’re caught trafficing, you get hung (as in, from a gallows, dead). You don’t get a trial, you don’t get a slap on the wrist, or a $50 fine, or let off the hook entirely (note to drug dealers – if you want to traffic drugs and never have a fear of ever being penalized – do it in Canada – the cops won’t stop you, nor will anyone else). All of these governments (and by “All” here I mean specifically Canada and the UK – probably the USA as well) seem to ignore the fact that drug trafficing is an illegal activity that should be punished. But our countries seem far more interested in protecting the rights of criminals, trafficers and drug lords than in punishing them.

I’d like to see how many people brought drugs into Canada if they knew they would be hung when they were caught, or how many folks would use them in clubs if they knew they would be fined for huge cash, taken outside, caned in the street, and then thrown in prison.

Lawmakers – get a clue. And don’t even get me started on what legalizing drugs would do the the already corrupt and profit-hungry pharmaceutical companies of this world.