Immediate Decriminalisation of Drug Possession
All,
Below is a link to an email correspondence from the Canadian Legal Network (AIDS/HIV).
If you care about the well being of humanity and have followed Confronting the Stigma of Drug Addiction (CTSODA) for the past four years then it is an important read.
You may sign the petition as an individual or through selecting CTSODA as the supporting organisation if you so choose.
Of course, some may have a view which is counter to decriminalisation. If you do then know in the year 2020 - a year representing perfect vision - you would be deficient in your education on the subject matter earning you the warranted labels ignoramus and laggard. If you are offended by those labels. Well. Good. Because you could also be considered as aged, antiquated, selfish and highly immoral knowing the human carnage criminalisation has delivered for so long.
Of all drugs taken individually Alcohol is by far the most detrimental. About time then, equality and fairness were applied to all substances.
While decriminalisation is not the panacea for reversing the stigmatised harm the War on Drugs has delivered onto civilization it is an important cog in the wheel for the urgent social change required.
In the past, willful ignorance was used as an excuse and as a weapon to prevent such reversal from taking place. In 2020 there is no excuse.
To be clear, CTSODA nor PJJ are architect's of any layer of decriminalisation becoming a reality in Canada. The current lobbying circumstance lies at the door steps of many talented and courageous Canadians and activist groups who have dedicated their lives to advocating and caring for those most marginalized and oppressed as a consequence of a diagnostic need for ingesting a substance and/or a personal libertarian desire to be free to choose.
Without lifetime career commitments from the likes of Richard Elliott, Donald MacPherson, Dr Bruce Alexander, Dr Gabor Mate and many others, Canada would not be in the position to change on a matter of such importance.
The global community needs Canada - post pandemic - to lead the way on social justice through building a society which itself, is more just, equitable and fair at all levels of social function, irrespective of race, gender, sexual orientation, mental/physical disability, socioeconomic status and power.
CTSODA was born out of such desperate personal need to regain a normal life after such unnecessary upheaval and turmoil, a consequence of human rights infringement and abuse of my life circumstances once personal substance use was exposed.
Seeking subsequent social justice in Canada illuminated and cemented the systemic, stigmatised damage so many willfully deliver when protection of a person's human rights are ignored, ridiculed and obliterated.
Decriminalisation while defacto in nature already, is a step towards preventing such depravity from continuing and recreating itself into the future. In conjunction with a Supreme Court of Canada ruling against discrimination, a less destructive more equitable world will be the consequence.
Respectfully,
Paul J James
