MLAS CALL FOR TOUGHER SENTENCING FOR PUSHERS

Editor, The NEWS:

For many years we have been fighting a losing battle against the production
and sale of illegal drugs. While massive resources are expended chasing drug
pushers, penalties on conviction are now little more than a 'slap on the
wrist'. Many now argue that the battle is lost and we should instead
legalize some drugs.

Through all of this, a new and much more deadly drug has emerged. Crystal
meth is the most highly addictive, brain destroying, and dangerous of all
drugs. It is readily available, can be manufactured easily, costs little,
and destroys nearly everyone that tries it. It is killing our kids!

The Crystal Meth Task Force started by the Meadowridge Rotary Club is an
excellent example of a community fighting back. The inaugural meeting shows
that Maple Ridge will not sit back and allow drug pushers to destroy a
generation of our kids. Other communities should follow suit.

While a local strategy will help, ultimately, much stiffer sentencing of
those that would produce or sell crystal meth should be an integral part of
any successful campaign against this killer and those that would produce or
sell it. Today these criminals see arrest and conviction as simply an
inconvenience and a cost of doing business.

You can assist us as your Fraser Valley provincial MLAs to urge the Attorney
General for B.C. to push his federal counterpart for stiffer sentencing
prescribed by law. Email and send us letters asking for mandatory sentences
for producers and dealers. Sign petitions and send them to us.

Perhaps most important, don't be afraid to talk to your kids about drugs.
Their lives may be at stake here and the front lines are literally drawn at
your dinner table.

We can lobby for stiffer penalties but one of the most effective ways we can
put manufacturers and pushers out of business is to cut these predators off
from their most vulnerable targets: our children.

This is a battle we cannot afford to lose.

Randy Hawes MLA
Maple Ridge-Mission
Ken Stewart MLA
Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge