IT'S TIME TO RETHINK DRUG STRATEGIES

North Bay's big drug bust last week is a small example of what's going
on in Nipissing District.

An undercover agent managed to sweep up almost 50 people with a small
pile of cash, a few guns, stolen property, pain killers and moderate
amounts of cocaine and pot.

A lot of small-timers will now have to snitch on each other, a lot of
lawyers will get busier and the void will be filled by a few
enterprising low-lifes.

But it wasn't a hockey bag full of crystal meth or half-ton truck
hauling a ton of crack, an amount that might remove a few of the scum
living off the addicts in North Bay.

Truth be told, there really won't be a lot of prison time handed out
by the time the charges are dropped or negotiated away.

Most of the people caught up in the mess will just have more problems
getting their lives on track and will have to rethink future vacations
south of the border.

This isn't a knock against our boys and girls in blue; they're doing
the best they can to put a dent in a moving target.

Unfortunately, the dope dealing here barely scratches the surface of
the cartels in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

And the troubles America has in its own backyard are beyond our
comprehension.

It makes you wonder if society is properly approaching the use and
abuse of substances.

The War on Drugs launched by the United States ranks among the most
futile of wars, finishing a close second behind the War on Terror and
Cold War with Communists.

The strategy is always the same: Everybody is the enemy until proven
otherwise, and the broadest paint brush is used to tar anybody and
anything.

After decades of drug wars and trillions spent on police, the U. S.
has achieved little more than creating generations of criminals.

The zero tolerance approach toward everything from marijuana to heroin
has failed.

So, it's with a sense of despair I hear about the Union of Ontario
Indians and its recently announced War on Drugs with a two-day
conference being held in Sudbury next week.

Their frustration with drug use and violence on reserves is
understandable.

I caution the First Nation political leaders, however, to avoid
following a tried and failed approach to this issue.

There's absolutely no use blindly engaging the justice system in this
battle. Remember, we're talking about people who, for the most part,
would rather not be poor and without hope.

Throwing young, misdirected people into jail and branding them for
life with criminal convictions only limits their opportunities in the
future.

As a report to the North Bay Police Service showed this week, high
school kids will always want to experiment with one substance or another.

Let them. Even guide them through it. Take some of the mystery out of
it.

The drug of choice these days is salvia, a natural hallucinogenic herb
that hasn't been criminalized yet.

Too much, of course, is probably harmful. The trick is to teach people
moderation and control while encouraging healthier outlets.

Unfortunately, eventually this non-addictive plant will be listed as a
controlled substance, and you can bet every dollar in your pocket
somebody on a shady street corner will start selling it the next day.

A gang of really bad people will corner the market next and start
offering it wholesale so their customers can sell to their friends.

If Little Johnny can't afford that, they have a little baggie of
chemicals at half the price or no charge in return for one quick favour."

What our society needs is some sober second thought about how we
approach crime and drugs.

We need leaders who understand that the best way to eliminate hard
drug criminal networks is to make soft drugs legal, removing their
direct contact with adventurous kids.