Pubdate: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 Source: Province, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2008 The Province Contact: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476 Author: Jay Black Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n224/a04.html DRUG PROFITEERS I agree with letter writer Jack McGee that our society fails to hold accountable those who profit most from illegal drug activity. But I would also point out that billions of dollars from the sale of poisons like heroin and cocaine are laundered annually by our major financial institutions. These same institutions also administer mutual funds, RRSPs and other investments held by millions of ordinary Canadians. If we waged a real war on drugs and bust the entire ring -- from drug-lord parliamentarians in places like Afghanistan, through traffickers to legislators and banking executives who create backdoors with lax reporting regulations -- the Canadian economy would shrivel like a street junkie in withdrawal. So let our brave and loyal men and women die securing and protecting opium poppy fields halfway across the world and let some of our most vulnerable citizens overdose in skid row hotels and alleyways. That's the price of maintaining our healthy economy. My younger brother succumbed to a 16-year drug addiction when he died of a heroin overdose nearly a decade ago. There is nothing healthy about that. Jay Black Vancouver - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin