START AT THE SOURCE

With increasing occurances of stabbings in Edmonton, the city's mayor
is saying he wants to regulate the sale of big knives in his city.

In Strathcona County there has been a lot of talk about banning pipes
and bongs from store shelves

There is a better approach than these banning everything that could
be used in a crime.

Making drugs illegal does not stop people from doing them. Even if
bongs were banned from sight, people would still smoke marijuana and
other drugs.

Where does the line get drawn? Should we ban lightbulbs because
people who smoke meth use them? Should we be forced to use butter
knives to cut steak because the sharper the utensil the better it is
to stab someone with?

A better solution is to look to the root of the problem instead of
banning the method. Pretending problems don't happen here will not
make them go away.

Banning large knives won't stop people from killing people.

Banning bongs won't stop people from doing drugs.

Ingenuity will trump good intentions.

We should focus our energies on shedding light on dark issues and
stopping problems at the cause.

Blameshifting in the name of self-rightousness only prepetuates problems.

Admitting the problem is the first step. Taking action on preventing
that problem from the source is the next.