By Steve Finlay. Your editorial about the APD’s activities regarding Tim Felger raises important questions about wasting valuable police resources.
I worked with Tim when I ran as the Marijuana Party candidate in Abbotsford South in the May election. His support was indispensable, especially for getting nominated. Can Tim be an irritating person? Absolutely. Does he hold some loony beliefs? No question about it! But neither of those is against the law as far as I know.
Blaming Bob Rich for this waste of money and time is missing the point, however. A police chief has many jobs, and one of those jobs is to manage a budget and keep an organization running. When you have to manage a budget, you do what brings in the money. Under drug prohibition, the best and easiest way for police departments to get money from governments is to go after those who are associated with drugs. So Bob Rich is simply doing what our governments reward him for doing.
Thus, the incentives created by the policy of drug prohibition, not Bob Rich personally, are the real reason behind the harassment of Tim Felger. It follows that the blame ultimately rests on everyone who allows prohibition to continue to exist. In other words, the voters: you and me.
It is time to end drug prohibition, and let our police get back to doing what they are good at: fighting real crime.
Steve Finlay is the 2013 Marijuana Party candidate for Abbotsford South