That figure constitutes eight percent of all international trade, sufficient to line the pockets of an ever-expanding global criminal class. All the arrests and all the incarcerations have not stopped either the use or the abuse of drugs, or the drug trade, or the crime associated with black-market transactions. In our prisons, drugs are plentiful and their use is widespread. No matter what they try, prison wardens cannot keep drugs out an important lesson for those who would turn this, or any country, into a figurative prison to stop drug use. Whether it is drugs or alcohol, prohibition stimulates crime.
Prohibition stimulates violence.
Across Canada, there are 64,000 documented drug offenses committed each year. The only reason is their illegality. The street price of cocaine and heroin is usually from 50 to 100 times the pharmaceutical cost of producing the drugs. The risks incurred by the black market suppliers and dealers are rewarded by the exorbitant retail prices paid by users. Cumulatively, hundreds of thousands of Canadians have criminal records for possessing small amounts of cannabis.