MISPLACED DEBATE IN TRAGEDY

If there is any reassurance or consolation to be taken from the
horrible tragedy in which four RCMP officers were gunned down by a
lunatic on an Alberta farm, it's the fact the vast majority of
Canadians are shocked, and deeply sympathetic for families involved.

It speaks to the high regard we hold for Mounties, and police officers
in general, and the appreciation we have for the dangerous job they do
on our behalf.

Beyond that, however, the polarized debate that has resulted over
grow-ops and marijuana laws is perplexing.

Howling for tougher sentencing for grow operators and pot trafficking
makes no sense under the circumstances, since the officers did not
originally arrive at the farm of James Roszko to bust a grow-op, but
to execute a search warrant on suspected stolen auto parts.

In the course of that, the police discovered a number of pot plants
and seedlings.

Roszko was a nutcase with a violent history, a fondness for guns and a
hatred of police and other authorities.

He was not some gang member defending his grow-op. He was a ticking
bomb waiting for a time and place to explode.

He finally did, taking the lives of four officers with his own.

How would this have been avoided under tougher pot laws?

There are many issues raised by this case, not least of which are the
quality of background information officers had on Roszko, the adequacy
of their training, the failure of the system in containing potentially
violent people and the futility of the country's gun registration program.

Instead, the country is gripped in a fresh debate over what to do with
the burgeoning illicit pot trade.

That's not to say the discussion ought not to take place. It certainly
should, just not in the context of this tragedy.

The pot industry - largely gang-controlled - is massively profitable
and equally problematic.

Prohibition has not worked, here nor in the U.S., where tougher laws
have existed for decades.

There is simply too much money involved, and too many people willing
to take the risk.

I'm a law-and-order guy at heart. I think the justice system is
weighted in favour of criminals, and police are hamstrung by excessive
civil rights and burden of proof.

But even with improvements in those areas, I cannot believe the
illegal pot trade is going to be driven out of Surrey or anywhere else
by stricter laws.

But let the debate carry on. Ultimately, there will be a creative,
contemporary solution.

Meantime, let's not lose sight of what occurred last
week.

Four young men in uniform laid down their lives for their beliefs and
principles in the service of their fellow citizens.

For that we should honour them.

And there's no debating that.

Note:
Andrew Holota is editor of the Surrey Leader, a sister paper to the
Abbotsford News and member of the Black Press B.C. News Group