GETTING TO THE ROOT OF PROBLEM

As the saying goes "desperate times call for desperate measures."

That would be the rallying cry of the residents surrounding the Vernon
Recreation Complex. According to residents, the area has been overrun with a
criminal element dealing in drugs and the sex trade.

Fed up with the blatant lack of reprisal, residents have started a
grassroots movement to reclaim their streets.

Posters have been plastered across the Priest Valley Arena voicing their
frustration of having lost the security of their neighbourhood. A meeting
has been set with the City of Vernon officials and the RCMP Safe Communities
Unit.

The obvious goal is to remove the junkies, dealers, prostitutes and johns
from their neighbourhood. But while starting a block watch program in the
area is an admirable goal, it unfortunately won't solve the bigger issue.

The drug and sex trade is so entrenched in society that any attempts to
remove it from one neighbourhood has only shifted the problem to someone
else's backyard. The RCMP face an overwhelming fight in which it has little
chance of winning.

Not hindered by government regulation, the drug trade reaps billions in
profits across Canada and lures a great many looking for quick and lucrative
paydays. The sex trade preys on the vulnerable who have slipped through
Canada's ever-increasingly shrinking social safety net. Neighbourhoods will
only become safer when the nation approaches these issues with its eyes open
to reality. Longer prison sentences in the U.S. have done little to decrease
the public's consumption of drugs. Sex is now openly sold under the guise of
"escort services."

We need an emphasis on harm reduction, early education and a way to
eliminate people profiting from other people's misery.