COSTS OF WAR

It is tempting to dismiss news of another targeted shooting somewhere
in the Lower Mainland as some perversion of Darwinism that doesn't
need to affect us. The phrase "one less gang-banger" has been heard in
this newsroom more than once in the last couple of years.

But what if the bullets that flew last summer outside the Squamish
powwow had killed spectators, or the bullets that put two in hospital
a couple of months later had gone through the walls of nearby West
Vancouver homes and injured or killed the innocent?

A report released this week by UBC's Urban Health Research Initiative
argues a direct correlation between the increase in drug-related
violence and Canada's commitment to a U.S.-style "war on drugs."

The authors of the report looked at international research and found
that "87 per cent of the studies linked strict drug-law enforcement to
increasing levels of drug-market violence."

Drug business is big business. Bigger than many can conceive. Those
involved maim and kill to protect their share of the illicit pie.
Chasing the perpetrators consumes huge police resources. Those
resources are paid for by the taxpayer.

The report itself does not suggest legalization and control of illegal
drugs, but we don't see any other logical solution. The U.S. war on
drugs has resulted in incredible incarceration rates. But drugs are an
escape and those rates (and costs) continue to climb.

Wouldn't it be better for all if the "escapees" were paying taxes and
crimes of violence diminished?