GANGS AND DRUGS ARE ALL ABOUT SUPPLY AND DEMAND

As much as we talk about fighting gangs, the real issue is drugs.

For the most part, drugs are why the gangs exist. Most of their
business involves drugs. So, fighting gangs means fighting drugs.

And, it comes down to the basic economics of supply and demand. Gangs
supply the drugs to the community. The U.S. war on drugs and our
efforts up here to combat gangs is a battle waged on the supply side
of the equation. We've been waging this war for a long, long time
and there is no end in sight.

We have to realize that, as a society, the strategy of attacking the
supply side isn't working.

The solution then, must lie in attacking the demand side of the
equation. There are two ways to attack that. Both have their
downsides, but both will likely be more effective than what we're
doing now.

The crime and punishment guys will like the first scenario - make
drug use a major crime. Give automatic jail sentences for possession
of marijuana, trafficking automatically carries a two-year sentence so
traffickers do hard time.

Right now the average person who likes to smoke a joint or two will
run the risk of carrying a bag of pot to a concert or carry it in the
glove-box of the car. Making that possession a major crime won't
eliminate pot-smoking, but it will make it less prevalent and
available in the community at large.

The downside, as Attorney General Mike de Jong said about getting rid
of the two-for-one deal in remand, more people will be whiling away
the hours behind bars.

The other way to tackle demand is to control it by legalizing soft
drugs like marijuana.

If government controls the production and sale of marijuana (suitably
taxed as a sin tax), there will be little or no illegal trafficking.
Why would anyone deal with a gangster when they can get their pot at
the pharmacy? Hard drugs are another story, so there would still be
illegal activity and gangs. But it wouldn't be as prevalent.

The downside, of course, is that legalizing marijuana is kind of like
admitting defeat. Plus, even though it is a soft drug, it does have
adverse health effects.

Some would say those effects are no worse than alcohol.

One thing is certain: our strategy of attacking the drug supply
isn't working. The police will tell us that no sooner do they take
one drug dealer, or even complete gang, off the street, another steps
in to take his place.

I'm not entirely sure which way is better. But one thing is certain.
Attacking the supply doesn't work. We have to change the demand.