EXPECT MORE OF THE SAME

No one should have to worry about getting caught in gang crossfire.
The efforts of the province to combat gang activity are
well-intentioned, and we hope they have some effect, but there is no
easy answer.

Some people are inclined to point fingers, especially at the
soft-on-crime court system. It's true this revolving door approach
for a bunch of punks scoffing at the system is doing little to curb
their business activities. It seems clear the rise of gang activity
in our region has a lot to do with a system that doesn't want to
punish gangs for selling drugs or weapons offences. Many have blamed
judges for being out of step with the public. And they're right.

But there's another problem. There is a total disconnect right now
between our drug laws and actual human behaviour. It's easy to say
our legislators are out of step with the public. We don't want to
make light of the health consequences of drugs, but the truth is that
many otherwise law-abiding people use them. A 2004 Stats Canada
report said 12.2 per cent of Canadians had used marijuana within the
previous 12 months--almost double the 1989 totals. The real numbers
are probably higher.

Many people of all political stripes now recognize that prohibition
has not worked, just like it failed with alcohol--another drug with
serious health consequences. It is arguably the biggest social
engineering failure in modern history. Note that no one is seriously
talking about bringing it back to combat alcohol problems. The last
thing we need is a bunch of alcoholics busting into houses to pay for
their habit.

Changing the drug laws would not be without challenges, but it's the
one thing we have yet to try seriously as a strategy. And don't kid
yourself. The gangsters running these supply lines have a vested
interest in a product whose black market status keeps its price
inflated. Keep this in mind the next time you pop into the liquor store.

At present, we have the worst of both worlds: a growing sense among
many people that punishing drug use rather than treating it as a
health issue is wrong-headed and hasn't worked; at the same time we
grow frustrated by a legal system that does little to discourage the
gangs who distribute drugs.

Until we really come to terms with this disconnect in our attitude,
we can expect more of the same trouble.