DRUG LAWS FUEL GANGS GROWTH

Jonathan Bacon surely knew the risks that came with his chosen
profession. He knew his life would end violently; it had been
threatened many times. The only question was when he would be gunned
down.

Bacon's death on Sunday -- in a flurry of bullets from automatic
weapons outside a casino in Kelowna -- should not have surprised anyone
familiar with the gangster life.

His younger brothers, Jarrod and Jamie, must understand their days are
numbered as well. Their friends and associates and family cannot
ignore the cold reality that gang activity usually ends with prison or
death.

Yet, despite the inescapable danger, more British Columbians are
choosing to join gangs. They put family members at risk while
accepting -- whether they admit it or not -- the odds of an early
demise. And even more people choose to associate with gang members.

It's an exciting lifestyle, offering money and nice cars, and a chance
to hang with a select group. It's obviously enough to tempt more
youths every year. Every time a gangster is killed or jailed, another
arrives to take his place.

Gangs hurt countless British Columbians. They are involved in a wide
variety of criminal activities, including money laundering,
prostitution, vehicle thefts, extortion and importing and selling
illegal weapons. Some gang activities have been so well integrated
into everyday life that they are effectively invisible.

What fuels these gangs is drugs. If we could substantially reduce the
huge profits in the drug trade, we would be able to make gangs less
appealing.

And to do that, there is really only one choice: We need to take
another look at the legality and control of drugs.

Making marijuana legal, for example, would reduce the value of the
plants in the estimated 13,000 indoor commercial grow operations.
Marijuana is a huge cash crop that has seriously skewed our economy
and enriched criminal gangs, and there is little to show for decades
of enforcement efforts.

British Columbians still grow marijuana, and still use it. Legalizing
a drug that has widespread support would not cause chaos -- but it
would help to take some of the financial incentive away from gangs,
although there would still be production aimed at export markets.

Heroin could also be controlled, with confirmed addicts getting
substitutes or prescribed heroin, an approach that has proved positive
in other countries.

Of course, curbing the illegal drug trade would not 0bring an end to
gangs, or the killings. As long as there is crime, people will
organize into gangs because there is strength in numbers.

But drugs are the single most important factor driving many of B.C.'s
gangs. Reducing the profits from drugs will reduce the amount of money
flowing into these gangs, and that in turn will take away some of the
allure of becoming a gangster.

The attack in Kelowna, which resulted in Bacon's death and serious
injuries to a friend who is a member of the Hells Angels, has raised
fears of retribution. Gang members might try to settle scores by
killing rivals, or seek to expand their reach. The violence will continue.

And yet, as long as there is easy money to be made, gangs will attract
more young men.

Some will get out alive. But for too many, their lives will end on
country roads, in shopping centre parking lots, in front of their
homes, or even on sunny summer days in downtown Kelowna.

These people have chosen a career that too often leads to a violent
end. They can't say they weren't warned.