WASTING TIME

John Les's call for stiffer sentencing in the wake of Surrey's recent
multiple homicide is shortsighted and naive in the extreme. The
solicitor-general is right to suggest that such horrific crimes point
to a systemic problem, but to suggest longer jail terms might somehow
solve it is myopic.

As with so much crime in this province, this week's murders were tied
directly to the drug trade. The crime's intended targets were involved
in that world, and its perpetrators very likely were also.

Canada has been battling the industry through punitive means for more
than 80 years, and in that time, the problem has only grown.
Prohibition and its enforcement has driven the street price of drugs
so high, criminal organizations are willing to do anything -- and risk
anything -- to defend their share of the market. Driving up jail terms
will only raise the stakes further.

If John Les is serious about ending drug crime and the violence that
accompanies it, he should look at removing its motivation. The
government should take the manufacture and distribution of drugs out
of the hands of criminals, and place it in the hands of the law.

Addictive substances must be decriminalized, controlled and
administered by the health system, and addicts must be given ready
access to comprehensive treatment programs if we are to bring the
epidemic to an end.

Increasing jail terms may give the illusion of taking action. But
that's all it is: an illusion. By now our leaders should have learned
this lesson. But for some, apparently, 80 years is not enough.