GAS CITY AT WAR

The Gas City is involved in a war. Not your terrorist or shoot-'em-up
kind of war, but one on drugs. According to the Medicine Hat Police
Services, it has been busy over the last few months making drug busts.

So have the RCMP. That's the good news! From October 2005 to October
2006, the street value of drug seizures was up more than 100 per cent.
Granted, probably not all the drugs seized were headed for Medicine
Hat, but probably a good portion.

The bad news is police say these seizures are only a small portion of
the illegal drug traffic. It's scary that in a small city like
Medicine Hat more than a million dollars street value of drugs have
been seized and that's a small portion. Thirty years ago drugs weren't
even on the radar, and 20 years ago it was reported drugs weren't a
big problem in this city. But in the last 10 years or so it seems all
that has changed, and now we are at war. Sad.

But the saddist thing about these statistics is not the trafficking of
drugs, but the fact that there is this kind of demand for illegal drugs.

It implies that neighbours and friends might just be using. Why is it
that so many people are indulging in illegal drug use? We live in a
society that has more material wealth, better living conditions,
health care, education, opportunities to travel and other
opportunities, than any generation before us. Yet it seems none of
this brings enough happiness to a portion of our population to keep
them from needing narcotics to supposedly enjoy life. As a colleague
said to me today, find an African tribal mother in front of her hut
preparing a meagre meal and ask her if she's happy. She will say yes
because her children are safe in the hut and the meal needs are taken
care of.

Prohibition didn't stop the movement of alcohol, and the best efforts
of police will not stop the flow of drugs. The only thing that will
accomplish that is for people to stop using. No demand, no supply. So
simple yet so unreachable. The war will rage on for a long time.

Lutz Perschon is a member of the Medicine Hat News community editorial
board.