Pubdate: Sat, 25 May 2002 Source: Guardian, The (CN PI) Copyright: 2002 The Guardian, Charlottetown Guardian Group Incorporated Contact: http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/174 Author: Mark Murphy CANADA'S OTHER UNDECLARED WAR Editor: As Canadian troops fight terrorism in Afghanistan, we should declare a second war but within our own borders, on drugs. After a three-year study, the solicitor general announced that drugs and alcohol contribute to crime in this country. Was that a surprise to anyone? As a former police officer, it's fair to say we knew that 35 years ago. The question that begs to be answered is what is the solicitor general and Parliament willing to do about it? We know that drugs are destroying our nation. It's killing our kids at an alarming rate. It's turning our kids to prostitution and even suicide. People are being murdered for drug debts. It is responsible for the loss of millions of dollars through break and enters into homes and businesses. It's also responsible for health-care and drug-related program costs. The only answer is to declare war on drugs and those that reap the awards by trafficking in it. When Canada was threatened with the FLQ crisis, we brought in the War Measures Act. I feel drugs are an even greater threat. How many of our kids have to die? Some say education is the answer but our kids know more about drugs than we as adults will ever know. I strongly believe that we need a new act of Parliament called the Drug Enforcement Act. Police powers should be expanded to include powers to search any vehicle, person, place or thing likely to contain restricted, controlled or narcotic drugs. Give police open unrestricted access to wiretap and technical surveillance of suspected drug traffickers, make inclusion of new suspects automatic in the ongoing investigation. Finally, anyone convicted of trafficking or conspiracy to traffic in illegal drugs receives a mandatory 20- year sentence with no chance of parole for 15 years. All assets owned by a convicted drug trafficker may be seized by the Crown and disposed of for payment of the cost of investigations. The Canadian Army may be utilized particularly for the take-down of large organizations such as bike gangs. With these laws in place it would take the joke out of trafficking in narcotics. Mark Murphy Georgetown - --- MAP posted-by: Beth