DRUG FIGHT NEEDS CREATIVE RESPONSE

I read with considerable interest the recent column by Bob Hughes
regarding trafficking of illegal drugs. Advocating for the death
penalty is something that I can understand some people feel is
warranted. Those, however are feelings.

Looking at the overall picture, as mindboggling as it is, reveals
varied layers of bad behaviour perpetrated by many more people than
mere traffickers. A small injustice can contribute to greater
injustice. How is it that some people do particularly vicious, callous
and vindictive things to others?

We do not have all the answers about this. As fiscally expensive as it
can be, ensuring the dignity and safety of predatory people will in
the long run do more for the safety and longevity of society over-all.

Interestingly enough, there is a moral connection between the failure
of the Western world to ensure the pharmacological justice that is
missing in the lives of the millions of people dying of AIDS and the
illegal drug trade that essentially sells death and misery. At the
local level around the world, the questions are often essentially the
same. So is the grief, the loss and yes, of course, the rage.

Do we, however, fight one form of rage with another, regardless of how
sophisticated we make it? Creative anger is a better sword to wield,
and here in Canada, we have many resources to address these issues.

If the courts did agree to execute a dangerous drug trafficker and
Hughes was hired to do the job, I don't think in his heart of hearts
he'd really want to do that. That's why I am waiting for his next
column on the subject.

Kevin Krofchek,

Regina