COURTS NEED STIFFER SENTENCES

I would like to take the opportunity to commend the local RCMP staff
in their efforts to take back control over this community.

Their recent campaign to take drugs off the streets of Drumheller
should be heralded by those who have stood by and watched our small
town be corrupted from the inside.

I have personally watched one such seizure take place and heard of
numerous others in the past months.

My concern is this. Why are these efforts being wasted?

All the taxpayers' money and time invested by these officers goes up
"in smoke" when the sentencing is handed down in our courts. Is this
because our public defenders are so much more capable as opposed to
our Crown Prosecutor?

Is it possible that Drumheller could benefit from some new blood on the bench?

I'm sure some of our older townsfolk could shed some light on this issue.

I recall reading in the newspaper not too long ago about a local
woman who was charged with her third drug-related offence.

What was the sentence handed down you ask? A $500 fine and a
conditional drug treatment program if I recall correctly.

What does this say to others in the community? It will probably take
this person (well-known to the community for this activity I might
add) an inconvenient hour of her day to make up the huge financial
burden handed down to her. (Who knows if there is any follow-up on
the programming?)

Was everyone else as impressed as I was to read this? We are becoming
a safe-haven for these criminal sorts.

It disheartens me as a parent and citizen to observe people deny the
overwhelming drug problem this community harbours. Ask anyone in the
valley and they could probably identify the "supplier" in their neighbourhood.

This community deserves better representation than is being given.
Why should the wheels of justice come to a grinding halt when one
enters the town limits?

Sincerely,

A concerned citizen

P.S. Not very impressed my water is brownish, either!