VICTORIA'S DRUG DILEMMA

The Hot and Not List for the Week.

HOT: The report from the B.C. Progress Board that calls for the
legalization of some drugs - or a complete assault on the array of
mind-altering substances favoured by many.

The legalization argument makes plenty of sense, and the Progress
Board isn't the first group to call for such a move.

Of course, B.C. Solicitor General John Les was predictably stuck in
the 1980s in his response, having been quoted on the radio as saying
legalization of illegal drugs is not the way to go.

Since prohibition has been a failure and a boon to organized crime,
and legalization is not an option, what, pray tell, does the former
mayor of Chilliwack propose?

NOT: The weather on the Coast. Sure, it's mild, but we think even
snow and cold is preferable to the veritable hurricane that tore
through the southwest part of the province in recent days.

With more heavy rain expected this weekend, this November has shown,
yet again, that annual summer and fall fears of a water crisis in the
Lower Mainland continue to be baseless.

Almost every year, weeks go by without rain, which should be a
blessing in that monsoon-ravaged part of B.C. And almost every year,
the cries of drought echo through the valleys.

Then, November arrives and brings more water than even a fish can take.