OFFICER'S DEATHS ARE NOBODY'S VICTORY

Lloydminster Meridian Booster -- If you believed there was nobody out there
who would stoop low enough to take advantage of the tragic death of four
RCMP officers, you would be sorely mistaken.

During the days immediately following the Mayerthorpe massacre, details were
sketchy and various news sources initially reported the incident as a pot
bust gone terribly wrong. Since then, it has been revealed that although
marijuana plants were discovered on the premises, RCMP were actually
visiting James Roszko's acreage regarding stolen property.

Marijuana activists across the country quickly jumped all over the cop
killings as a tool for their cause, arguing that if pot were legalized the
incident never would have occurred.

On the very same day as the Mayerthorpe tragedy, users of an online
marijuana activist discussion forum celebrated the RCMP deaths, and talked
about the potential advantage the incident could have in the fight to
legalize marijuana.

"The illegality of pot caused this tragedy, which means it was preventable
. future incidents can be prevented by legalization," said one poster.
"Don't let anyone tell you that this is evidence that pot is bad. This is
evidence that prohibition kills cops."

(Last time I checked it was a psychopath with an automatic rifle.)

Others showed even less tact in expressing their opinion.

"Good riddance to scum," read another post.

"Scabs they are, bleeding festering scabs. Good riddance is right," said
another.

Of course these comments are extreme, and we can't paint all marijuana
activists with the same brush as those ignorant fools who would celebrate
the death of the young officers as some sort of victory. But there is no
doubt that Canada's pro-marijuana community is attempting to take advantage
of the incident to promote their cause.

I don't have any strong beliefs regarding the legalization of marijuana, but
I certainly don't support anyone trying to reap some sort of benefit from
the deaths of four young men.

Perhaps the police should have just left Mr. Roszko alone, and allowed him
to quietly grow his little weed garden without interference. So what if he
was in possession of a little stolen property and a few illegal firearms. He
wasn't hurting anybody.

And maybe police should simply allow drug pushers to sell marijuana,
cocaine, or crystal meth on our street corners. What's the big deal?

I hope these arguments sound as ridiculous to you as they do to me. Drugs
are illegal, and maybe someday our `enlightened' Liberal government will
change all that, but in the mean time, those in the drug trade should
continue to face justice for breaking the laws that are in place to ensure
the safety and security of our communities.

Four young men died last week upholding the safety and virtue of our
society. Allowing their deaths as an argument for the legalization of drugs
would be conceding defeat to violent crime. If anything, this tragic
incident should strengthen our resolve to seek out and eliminate illegal
activity. It's time for our police and our justice system to drop the gloves
and declare, `no more Mr. Nice Guy.'