BUST HELPS CRIMINALS

Editor,

Daily Herald:

Wow. Sgt. Brent Kalinowski and his "Untouchables," coming to town to clean

up the mess. Good intentions, bad policy.

The police never mention that when they put one drug dealer in jail,
the 10 or 12 that they will never get around to catching have that
much less competition.

Their profits go up, so really, Kalinowski and his crew are helping
out the dealers who are too smart to draw public attention to themselves.

In the U.S., during the 1930s, alcohol was prohibited much as drugs
are today. Children had easy access to bootleg liquor that blinded or
killed more than a few. Gangsters ruled the streets with machine
guns, police became less and less effective as the gangs' wealth and
power grew, and government corruption was rampant.

Who lobbied the government to regulate alcohol? Was it the drunks,
the speakeasy owners, or police?

No, it was mothers, grandmothers and teachers who lobbied the
government to regulate alcohol so that it would be out of the hands
of children.

They understood than when we criminalize a popular substance, we
create a black market than preys on children.

Russell Barth

Ottawa