POLICE FOCUS ON DRUG DEALERS A WELCOME SIGHT

Police in western P.E.I. have been doing a pretty good job lately
gathering up caches of illegal drugs. They've gathered up cannabis,
prescription drugs, cocaine and other drugs in various quantities.

It's likely they are only beginning to scratch the surface, but their
efforts are noteworthy. While the charges still haven't been proven in
court, we can always hope that recent police activity will convince
some drug dealers to get out of the business.

Drug trafficking and illegal drug use cause nothing but harm to
society.

It is up to police forces -- and society in general -- to take a
strong stand against this deadly problem.

It would seem that some of the people police have rounded up are
small-time drug dealers.

It has been a long-held belief that police deliberately ignore the
small players in hopes of rounding up the big players in the ruthless
business of drug pedalling.

The recent arrests and charges seem to demonstrate police are taking a
new tact, rounding up dealers before they get in over their heads --
for the drug business is dangerous for the dealers, too. It is best
for them to get out of the business before they cause harm to any more
customers, and before they run the risk of offending big-time dealers.

For the drug business is a deadly business. Any time a person dies of
a drug overdose, or any time a drug user robs someone to fund his
addiction, there is blood on the dealers' hands. If the only way for a
drug dealer to develop a conscience is through an arrest and a
conviction, then, so be it.

The thing to note here is drug dealers are not in business to help
anyone; they are in business to fill their own pockets or to fund
their own addictions. They are not model citizens, nor do they pretend
to be.

Society needs to take a serious look at the drug issue, because the
next drug overdose will be someone's son or daughter. The next person
to commit a violent crime to support his or her addiction will have
been an innocent, fun-loving person before drugs took control.
Meanwhile, the drug dealer who provided the push that set off that
downward spiral -- if police forces and society have not intervened --
will be setting up someone else for self-destruction.

Drug problems in society will continue as long as drug dealers are
allowed to pedal their goods. Society has a responsibility to help put
them out of business, and one of the best ways to do that is by
keeping a watchful eye and keeping the police informed of any and all
illegal drug activity.

Providing some encouragement to police for tackling one of society's
most serious problems would be helpful, too.

And the number one thing society can do is convince our youth never to
experiment with drugs, and to stress that those who are offering them
drugs are not their real friends.