GET RID OF GANGS BY LEGALIZING DRUGS

To the editor:

This is in response to the editorial Gang Shooting a Warning Signal
(Capital News Jan. 28).

It is obvious that you, the RCMP chief and like thinkers are all in
denial and/or ignorant of the mistakes of the alcohol prohibition era.

You are also in denial and/or ignorant of the fact that a huge chunk
of our society smokes pot both young and old. You also seem to be
blind to the fact that in the United States they already have
virtually a zero tolerance policy. Yet where does most of our precious
B.C. bud go?

As a result the American jails are over flowing with what I would
suggest are not criminals.

George Bush claims that if you do drugs then you support terrorism and
I would suggest gangs. Using that logic, then 80 years ago if you
drank booze you supported gangs, right? So what changed?

People still drink booze. So obviously the law changed. In spite of
the governments of the day's efforts trying their damndest to
eliminate the evil booze from society, demand for the product continued.

As a result the gangsters moved in to capitalize on the demand. This
is precisely the same reason why the modern day gangsters are moving
in on the drug trade. History is repeating it self.

So, it is obvious that the only solution to today's gangster problems
is to legalize pot.

Ask yourselves why booze was legalized. What ever the answer is, it's
the same reason why pot should be legalized. After booze was legalized
anyone that drank was no longer considered a criminal. The same would
happen with pot.

Booze companies were considered criminal organizations during
Prohibition. They are now corporate citizens who pay taxes and employ
people who also pay taxes.

Imagine, the pot smokers today would no longer be considered criminals
and can then come out of their closets.

The gangsters would now become corporate citizens and pay taxes and
employ people who will also pay taxes. Talk about a boost to the economy.

Fill the jails with real criminals like the three cops that were drunk
and beat up that guy in Vancouver.

Or the four cops that killed that guy at the Vancouver
airport.

Or all the other cops that should be in jail for what would be
considered criminal activity had they not been cops. I rest my case.

Wayne Macdonald

Kelowna