NO EASY ROAD DEALING WITH ADDICTS, PUSHERS

Pretty much everyone will attest that drugs are a scourge on our
society.

Every day, drugs have devastating effects on millions of people around
the world, including here in Prince George.

They ruin the lives of the people using the drugs and their families,
as well as the lives of families who become victims of drug users and
dealers.

Since Jan. 1, local RCMP and the Drug Task Force have seized more than
7,000 marijuana plants, 60 pounds of cropped and bagged marijuana, and
shut down several grow ops around the city.

They have also seized other hardcore drugs, guns, shotguns, rifles,
crossbows and other gang and drug-related weapons and
paraphernalia.

But still it goes on.

Recently, four people were arrested after forcing their way into a
home, where one of the assailants held a semi-automatic handgun to the
head of the homeowner.

Later, one of the accused, Nathan Alcide Marshall was found shot to
death in a garden on Hemlock St.

Shortly after his death was announced, postings started to appear on
Facebook saying what a wonderful guy Marshall was.

He will be remembered as a "great guy with a "kind heart and gentle
soul," one comment said.

Another comment said, "He will always be remembered as a very caring
and compassionate young man."

We hardly think these words should be associated with someone who was
facing 10 charges related to offences stemming from his alleged
involvement in the Jan. 4 home invasion on Quince Street.

After all, Marshall was charged with break and enter with intent to
commit a crime, robbery with a firearm, possession of a firearm,
disguise with intent, possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm
with ammunition, possession of stolen property, pointing a firearm,
forceable seizure of a person, uttering threats, and assault.

Drugs are out of control in our society, yet the powers that be use
the guise of harm reduction to provide free needles to these people,
so they can perpetuate their habit, instead of court-forced mandatory
treatment in a facility like Baldy Hughes.

We now have a safe injection site in Vancouver, and if we don't watch
out, we will also have one here somewhere down the road.

After all, Prince George chief medical officer Dr. David Bowering
thinks it is a good idea, and Dr. Evan Wood of the BC Centre for
Excellence in HIV/AIDS has called for the creation of inhalation rooms
where addicts can go to smoke crack, unmolested by police.

A former RCMP officer sent an e-mail to The Citizen recently, stating
that if a person is caught with drugs within a five-block radius of
the Vancouver safe injection site, the RCMP are obliged to escort that
person to the safe injection site.

That is like saying to an armed robber, "Hold on a minute. Let me make
sure you have proper ammunition in your gun before you rob that
convenience store.

Do you have your Balaclava?

Good.

Oh, don't forget your gloves so you won't leave any
fingerprints.

OK, now you can go and rob the store. But don't worry, taxpayers will
pay for someone to keep an eye on you to make sure you are safe while
you rob the store, and make sure you do it properly."

Drugs are a curse on our society, and the sooner we treat them as
such, the better we will be and the sooner we will get rid of them.

Drug users need treatment for their addiction and society needs to
stop being "kind" and "gentle" and "compassionate" when dealing with
them.