Local Media Slags Addicts Again

Not being prone to intelligent and thoughtful articles, the local paper continues to toss dirt on visitors to prisons in the Frazer Valley. The whole thing arose when a visitor's baby stroller displayed some contact with what I think was amphetamines. It may have been cocaine. This is an ion scanner and would certainly have displayed even the most casual contact with what may very well have been a legal prescription. There has already been a mini riot as no-one in prison will countenance any messing with their visits. The paper today printed a cartoon showing a baby with a diaper full of contraband. I guess being solely responsible for a prison riot wasn't enough for the paper's editors.I checked out the paper's website and the letters on the original article were scary. Most people seemed to think convicts had surrendered any claim to humanity and were lucky to get visits at all. The children should all have been sent to children's aid (where many of their dads came from) and the mothers should all be tossed in jail. This is exactly why I became an advocate for drug reform. I can't begin to explain how impotent and angry I feel when something like this happens. I could have predicted the riot as if I was there. I was, at one time, and this issue never changes. Why do papers print stuff like this? To sell papers. It's irresponsible and it's pointless but it sells papers.So what if people get hurt and reputations are destroyed. So what if prisoners have enough on their plate already. Just sell those papers and let the chips fall where they may. What really annoyed me was that I had personally opened up to the reporter responsible for the original article. I gave her a synopsis of my miserable existence and she got a column out of it.So much for reaching out to the fifth estate.