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On the street, you can see the harm caused by drug laws
By David Bratzer, Ottawa Citizen SpecialLike many other police officers, I have witnessed the tragedy of the HIV epidemic first hand. It is one thing to read the statistics demonstrating the connection between illicit drug use and HIV; it is another matter entirely to patrol the streets, day in and day out, repeatedly arresting men and women infected with the HIV virus.
Our country has one of the finest health-care systems in the world, but our laws surrounding drug use result in unnecessary disease and death.
In this context, the recent announcement of the Vienna Declaration has bolstered my conviction that drug prohibition is a national policy failure.
Ex-Vancouver police officer Tony Smith applauds rebuke of war on drugs
By Carlito Pablo, Georgia StraightA former police officer has said a call by the XVIII International AIDS Conference to end the global war on drugs is a major step toward saving lives around the world.
Tony Smith, a retired 28-year veteran of the Vancouver Police Department, was referring to the Vienna Declaration, the official statement coming out of this year’s biennial meeting of HIV/AIDS experts, which wraps up in Austria on Friday (July 23).
Smith is a spokesperson for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, an international group of current and former police officers and members of the legal community that advocates for the decriminalization of drugs.
Complaint lodged over local officer's gag order
By Louise Dickson, Times ColonistThe B.C. Civil Liberties Association has filed a complaint with the Victoria Police Board after Chief Jamie Graham ordered one of his officers not to speak at a local drug forum.
Const. David Bratzer, who does public speaking on behalf of the U.S.-based non-profit organization Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, known as LEAP, was asked to join a panel of speakers at a City of Victoria harm-reduction forum last evening, attended by about 120 people.
The Muzzling of a Cop
Norm Stamper, Huffington PostDavid Bratzer is a young, soft-spoken police officer with the Victoria (British Columbia) Police Department. He comes from a law enforcement family; two of his brothers are VicPD officers. Thoughtful, well spoken, Bratzer loves being a cop and serving his community. But now he's been ordered not to air his views on the most compelling of all public safety issues. Read more »
BCCLA complaint wants police free speech policy defined
An allegation that a Victoria Police Department police officer has been ordered not to discuss harm reduction at an upcoming drug policy conference has caused the BCCLA to file a policy complaint with the Victoria Police Board. The complaint asks the Board to define an off-duty speech policy for officers in line with Charter free speech values.“Police officers from Vancouver speak regularly on drug policy, often contradicting official VPD policy,” said Jason Gratl, Vice-President of the BCCLA. “We’re not sure why Victoria’s policy would be different. Both departments are governed by the same Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”
Decriminalization or Legalization of Drugs
By Diane Walsh, Pacific Free Press To any rational person, the
consequences on society of bad drug policy are obvious. Writing in the
Toronto Star’s June 3, 2009, issue, Victoria police officer David
Bratzer cites “public disorder, backlogged courts, high property crime
rates, organized crime and gang violence over control of the drug
trade” to try to awake the public to realize that “these costs
are not worth an absolute prohibition on drug use in our society”.
