TIME TO CONSIDER LEGALIZING DRUGS, SAYS LOCAL COUNCILLOR

Until Canada ends its prohibition against drugs cracking down on gangs
won't be successful because drug sales are too lucrative, said
Councillor Craig Speirs at Monday's workshop meeting.

Council was discussing recently unveiled provincial plans to combat
gangs after a series of brazen shootings in the Lower Mainland.

Speirs said the millions that the province will spend on its anti-gang
initiatives is "chump change" in comparison to the profits gangs are
making selling drugs.

Speirs said the province needs to take a look at current drug laws,
pointing out if they're legalized "you remove their money stream."

He said the current "prohibition law" works "extremely well" for
gangsters.

"Until we address that I don't think doing anything else is going to
make any difference," he said. "I think we have to have that
discussion (about drug legalization) in the front end and to avoid it
and just pretend that there's a dead fish in the closet, it just gets
smellier over time. To my view we have to address this directly, where
their strength comes from and until we do that we're just going around
the edges."

Councillor Cheryl Ashlie said she commends the new funding but wants
to see dollars go towards prevention as well.

Ashlie said money needs to be allocated in order to "build resiliency
in youth" so they don't get into drugs or gangs.

"Governments often avoid it because it appears to be expensive," said
Ashlie of prevention funding.

Ashlie said she'd like to see 1 per cent of money going to alcohol
sales put into prevention programs, which Speirs supported.

Councillor Al Hogarth said drugs and criminal activity are regularly
glorified in movies and other popular culture.

"Unfortunately they're just promoting the whole idea you can make a
quick buck. Maybe the end is not so pretty but you can have a lavish
lifestyle if you want to have a short life," he said. "In some cases
we're making heroes out of these people and I think it's the wrong
thing to do."

The province several measures Friday to combat gang activity including
168 new police officers to focus on gang activity and 10 new Crown
prosecutors to solely prosecute gangs. Premier Gordon Campbell said
his government will also lobby for changes to the criminal code such
as making it harder for those accused of gun offences to get bail,
mandatory minimum sentences for serious drug convictions and an end to
"two for one" credit for pretrial jail time for offenders who commit
bail breaches or are charged with weapons offences and violent crime.
The province will also create a 10-member "weapons enforcement unit"
dedicated to seizing illegal firearms. There will also be more
rigorous inspections on gun dealers and increased security rules for
companies that sell firearms as props for movie companies.

Hospitals will be required to report treating any patients will
gunshot wounds. The province will also work to outlaw armoured
vehicles and body armour and there will be a new gang hotline and
rewards program.