IT'S A BIG BUSINESS

Robert Allaire, the man charged with bringing $12 million worth of
cocaine into Canada last week, is an interesting character.

As our sister paper in Smithers has reported (see page 7), he is very
well-known in the small community of Telkwa, just outside Smithers. He
ran four separate businesses, including a trucking company. He spent a
great deal of time out of town.

He also helped organize fundraisers for the less fortunate, including
the people burned out of their homes during the 2003 forest fire
season. It's important to stress that Allaire has not been found
guilty of any crime.

However, others convicted of similar crimes have also had business and
community involvement.

There are many people in B.C.'s interior (and the Lower Mainland) who
run legitimate businesses, and are also heavily involved in the drug
trade. As Langley RCMP Cpl. Dale Carr points out, they sell vast
quantities of B.C. Bud marijuana into the U.S. and return with other
drugs, often cocaine.

Why? It's because of the vast amounts of money to be made from drugs.
It's money that is subject to no tax whatsoever, and other than the
challenge of laundering vast amounts of cash so that it can be used to
buy homes, cars, aircraft and other goods, it's all theirs.

As growing and selling drugs is such a big business, it should give us
pause when there is talk of legalizing marijuana. Are the big growers
and dealers going to willingly let the government in on their turf?
Not too likely.

Marijuana is a very big business throughout this province. It is vital
to the economy of many areas.

It is also a business that is almost completely illegal (except for
licenced medical marijuana growers) and it is one which generates
intense profits.