READERS VOTING IN WEB POLLS CONFLICTED ABOUT DRUG POLICY

The faithful readers who participate in the Courier's weekly
unscientific online web poll developed a lot more angst last year.

In 2004, poll respondents were a curious bunch. Concerned about
police misconduct but hopeful about the economy, they claimed to see
UFOs, stayed away from the beach, and took their dogs shopping. In
2005, judging by the answers provided to the more than 50 online
questions we asked readers last year, poll participants were a lot
more conflicted. They were socially tolerant, but increasingly
impatient with city drug policy. They wanted coyotes and trees
protected, but demanded foreign criminals be sent packing. They were
keen on politics, but said only bona fide Vancouverites should run
for mayor. Few were also prepared for a major natural disaster, but
they weren't worried about it, since they'd rather spend their time
learning about sex.

Our online poll participants started 2005 with great hope, with two
thirds saying they were optimistic about the coming year. Optimism
begat social tolerance and compassion. More than half of respondents
reported no donor fatigue, even after multiple appeals for charitable
aid thanks to successive disasters last year. A solid 60 per cent
backed more housing for the homeless.

Eighty-one per cent said films deemed to be racist should be
permitted for public screening. Two-thirds believed Vancouver should
create more restorative justice programs. A resounding 76 per cent
didn't want marijuana nut Marc Emery extradited to the U.S.

Just over half thought Vancouver needs a second supervised drug
injection site. But in a sign that poll participants have reached
their limit with Vancouver's permissive drug policy, two-thirds
rejected the notion that staff at the Insite injection site be
allowed to help drug users inject drugs. And complaints about police
misconduct were so 2004, with fewer than half of respondents saying
allegations against the cops in the Downtown Eastside should be
investigated further.

But don't use politics to justify illegal activity. Two-thirds of
poll respondents believed the Squamish Five bombers from the 1980s
are the equivalent of today's terrorists. And refugees in Canada
ought not to do the crime if they can't do the time back home. A
whopping 90 per cent of our poll users would deport your butt out of
the country.

Our respondents remain as green as ever. Nearly three-quarters want
more of Hastings Park to be regreened. Half want the Stanley Park
petting zoo turned into an ecological interpretive centre. Two-thirds
seek an alternative to the car for their commute. Nearly 90 per cent
said the city should provide extra recycling boxes on public streets
for all the new freebie newspapers. Two-thirds wanted a limit to tall
buildings downtown. Three-quarters opposed a cull of the city's
coyote population.

Illegal tree cutters also should beware: 87 per cent wanted the city
to toughen its tree removal bylaw.

Poll respondents are health nuts, with 68 per cent supporting a ban
on smoking outdoors. Seventy-one per cent want more public toilets
downtown, and 79 per cent advocate more PE in public schools. Keeping
students busy with PE might be a good idea to take their minds off
certain things, since three-quarters of poll repondents also wanted
schools to provide more sex education for teens. But respondents are
no slouch in education on the art of love, with 60 per cent reporting
they would attend a conference on sex. We don't know what kind of
conference the other 40 per cent would choose.

Poll participants are keen on politics, with 86 per cent saying they
intended to vote in last year's provincial election. But two-thirds
said they didn't understand the BC-STV proposal for electoral reform.
The great majority also wanted legal limits on campaign spending in
civic elections. And outsiders need not apply in civic politics, with
78 per cent saying only those who live in Vancouver should be allowed
to run for mayor.

Yet they have no shame. Three-quarters of our respondents would
happily accept a position in the Senate if it was offered to them.

Finally, our poll respondents will be caught flat-footed by a major
disaster, as fewer than one in five said their household was prepared
for an emergency. Only 40 per cent are worried about an avian flu
pandemic, and a piddly 11 per cent fear a comet or asteroid will wipe
out life on earth.

I hope they're right. We have a new year of online polls for readers
to answer in 2006.