Pubdate: Thu, 11 Jan 2007
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2007 The Province
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: George Kosinski

DRUG PROHIBITION DOOMS US TO GANG VIOLENCE

Richmond RCMP spokesman Cpl. Peter Thiessen is quoted as saying that 
the people who were in Dover Park at the time of last week's shootout 
"have absolutely no regard for public safety."

Thiessen might as well have said that the politicians who run this 
country have absolutely no regard for public safety.

The gang violence associated with the trade in illegal drugs is the 
inevitable result of the prohibition of these drugs.

Gang members do not have recourse to such civil-dispute-resolution 
mechanisms as calling the police to report theft of their goods or 
pursuing litigation to resolve business disputes.

I'm not aware of the RCMP having ever reported incidents of gang 
violence surrounding the production or distribution of tobacco or 
alcohol products.

Can we learn from this? Or are we doomed by our insistence that 
"moral righteousness" should supersede all other considerations, even 
at the expense of making our communities less safe and moving ever 
closer to a police-state society?

George Kosinski,

Gibsons
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MAP posted-by: Elaine