REASON THE GANGS ARE GROWING

Editor :

Working in tandem for the past several years, law enforcement and
organized crime have been inducing black market consumers in British
Columbia's Interior to switch from marijuana to crack cocaine.

Under the federal Conservatives, law enforcement resources formerly
dedicated to fighting cocaine have been reallocated to fighting
marijuana. According to police reported crime statistics for 2009, as
reported in Statistics Canada The Daily, July 20, 2010, Criminal Code
cocaine possession convictions decreased a whopping 29 per cent, while
cocaine trafficking convictions decreased 13 per cent.

Whenever the RCMP announce a major marijuana bust anywhere in the
Interior, the criminal gangs from the Lower Mainland swoop in to take
advantage of the resulting shortage of marijuana by flooding the
street with crack cocaine, resulting in new markets for crack, as
aided by the RCMP turning a blind eye to cocaine users and
traffickers. The resulting proliferation of gangs and violence in
Interior cities like Prince George should not be unexpected.

The Conservatives promised to get "oetough on crime." Instead, they
demonstrated their commitment to public safety by deporting Marc Emery
to the U.S. and convicting nearly 50,000 ordinary Canadians of simple
possession of marijuana, while giving criminal gangs the green light
to sell as much cocaine as possible, as demonstrated by the statistics
from Statistics Canada. (You see why the Conservatives want to shut
down Statistics Canada?)

Thus, it's the RCMP's obsession with marijuana in the Interior
that is the direct cause of the spread of crack cocaine, criminal
gangs, and weapons to our Interior B.C. towns "" a joint venture of
sorts between organized crime and law enforcement, wholly funded by
taxpayers. And now the Conservatives and RCMP will beat their chests
and call for even tougher measures "" against marijuana!

David W. Dickinson

Hazelton