IN THE POCKET OF GANGS

"Drugs, we know, is the currency of gangs and organized crime," says
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson - and, barring grammar, he's correct
(Ottawa Vows To Toughen Laws Against Gangs - Feb. 28). There's only
one sure way to make said currency tank even faster than the dollar
and thus yank the financial rug from under gangster scum: the
decriminalization of all drugs and the legalization of marijuana.

Mr. Nicholson's prescription for the problem of violence is to create
more of it - more cops, more prisoners and thus a higher street price
for all drugs. In a spiralling economy, the worst possible policy is
to make the drug trade more lucrative than it already is - unless, of
course, one is invested in the prison industry or lives in the pocket of gangs.

MARTIN OUELLETTE

Toronto