It is interesting to note that the Halifax Police Department uses the
Serious Crime Unit to pursue drug cases as well as violent crime (Aug.
1, 1997), and then to find out that violent and property crime rose in
the city against the national trend. A report published last year,
titled Illicit Drugs and Crime, by the Independent Institute (Oakland,
California) notes the relationship between using police resources to
pursue drug crime and the rise of violent crimes and property
offences.

The report states the fact that it is not possible to use one resource
in two places at the same time, thus any police resources that are
used to pursue possession and trafficking offences are not available
to solve murders, rapes, and burglaries. This means that offenders
commit more offences before being caught, and that new offenders
perceive less risk of arrest and prosecution.

It is also noted that drug users and non-drug criminals only partially
overlap in population. Most drug users do not commit non-drug crime.
This means that arresting a drug user does not remove a property
offender from the street and increased arrest and prosecution of drug
offences does not result in a decreased population of property
offenders.

Don't worry, Halifax, with the passage of the Controlled Drugs and
Substances Act, the rest of Canada will soon join your fair city in
increased violent crime spurred on by a national mania to arrest and
prosecute drug offenders. With the addition of forfeiture and
regulatory changes, which make it easier to prosecute drug cases, law
enforcement will assuredly increase their vigilance against drugs
leading to an inevitable increase in violent crime and property
offences.

Despite all the rhetoric, tough on drugs means soft on crime.

Pierre Honeyman
Vancouver, B.C.