Shot to the Heart

So folks I've not given you my thoughts from the edge for a while probably because I've been concentrating on other challenges not least of all my own health which for those who follow me on twitter will know has been somewhat challenging over the past few weeks.

Well one story caught my eye today and in many ways it is an old chestnut of mine. The Death Penalty.

Many of you will know that a British woman along with four others, three British and one Indian, have been arrested in Bali on suspicion of importing narcotics. As a result of this there has been a media feeding frenzy over the statement from the authorities that if she is convicted she will receive The Death Penalty.

Now those of you who know me know my objections to Capital Punishment. In a civilised society there is no room for the ultimate sanction of the state. And I think there lies the point, do we live in a civilised society? Is the human race truly civilised? How can we call ourselves civilised if we support the taking of life in such a sanitised way.

I know people will say that she was a drug runner bringing misery to many people and I understand that point of view particularly if you or a child of yours has been trapped in the wanton destruction of addiction however please take time to look at the alternate view. The person who took the drugs generally did so of their own free will in the first place.

Drug taking, one of the great four taboos in society, is as old as civilisation itself. The law of supply and demand will therefor always run out over the law of the land. Surely it is now a time for a rethink on drugs. This lady was probably fully aware of the consequences of taking drugs into a country like Indonesia that has a zero tolerance policy yet if she did do it the threat of execution obviously did not deter her. In fact Capital Punishment has never stopped the crimes it set out to deter. What would probably have prevented this from happening was if there was no financial gain to be made.

And that ultimately is how we stop drugs barons. Cut of their money supply not their heads. For it is the greed that drives on people when they talk about supplying drugs not the drugs.

Is this radical, in a way yes but in a way no. We know that the number of Dutch residents who are taking drugs have dropped in recent years yet the number of addicts in Holland has risen. The figures are deceiving for the reason for the increase of addicts in Holland is due to the foreign nationals not the indigenous population.

You cannot deal with a problem if you cannot see a problem and with drugs much of it goes on in the twilight  world out of sight and therefor out of mind.

Let us stop this nonsense now, let us wash our dirty drugs linen in public and let us rethink the whole strategy of the war on drugs, before your child becomes the next one in this situation.