DRUG STORY SPAWNS MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS

Dear Editor:

Re: Sunday, Oct. 18, page 4 article.

Ah yes, another story about the Boogie Man in the North Shore News:
"Cops find marijuana hidden in child's room." We can now all breath a
collective sigh of relief that once more our protectors of the peace
have caught an evil criminal trafficking that voodoo potion called
marijuana.

It is particularly significant this time because the police find "it"
in a child's room. An emotional impact -- good hook for the story. Do
the parents not have any moral conscience? Shame on them.

Let's put this "news item" into context. Do we know the circumstances
of the person selling the marijuana? No. Were they selling any other
drugs? Don't know. Any history of family trouble or disturbance to the
neighbourhood (other than "suspicious activities")? Don't know. How
long has this person been living in the neighbourhood? Don't know.

How many hours of police surveillance, police man-hours, and legal
processing did this bust take? Don't know. Please Liam Lahey tell us
how much it costs society to deal with this matter? Not to mention the
cost of the courtroom three-ring circus that will transpire. The
police really do have better things to do with their time.

My point here is that we know nothing about this drug dealer except
that he is a drug dealer. Don't get me wrong I'm not advocating drug
use, however this journalistic meat grinder treatment of this story is
boring. It is fluff like candy floss.

The article goes on to say "Ex-student, (now drug dealer), waits at
the south side of the building of the local high school." Give me a
break. I ask the readership to cast their minds back to their high
school experience. Anyone under the age of 50 will recall the drug
landscape at high school. It's tongue-in-cheek time folks.

Abuse of substances, legal or otherwise, is rampant in our society
today. It's every individual's choice whether drugs are for them or
not. The number of people using "drugs" is a barometer of the mental
health of our society, the state of our social institutions, and
social milieu. How are we going to effectively deal with the drug
abusers, and at what cost?

If you're going to editorialize drug busts on the North Shore, treat
the subject with a little bit of intelligence.

Your devoted reader, B. Humphreys North Vancouver

Checked-by: Patrick Henry