Blood On The Streets: How Can We Really Stop The Insanity?

AlCaponeShouldn'tLiveHereAnymore
Lotusland


The shooting at 12th and St. Catherines last night was the third drug-fueled gangster 'incident' within 20 blocks our otherwise quiet, peaceful and happy neighbourhood in less than a week.

So.

How to stop this?

Well, we have already argued that all the Maximum Lawman Peter Van Loan-type frothing-at-the-mouth-while-blaming-the-Opposition stuff will ultimately do very little because it does not get to root causes.

And the only way to really do that is to get tough with the prohibitionists.

As such, we were very glad to read that the old curmudgeon, Rafe Mair, agrees with us:

Logically, the legalization or, at least, decriminalization of drugs makes sense. The beneficiaries of our present system are criminals, the same criminals in large measure who are responsible for the ubiquitous shootings in Vancouver reminiscent of Chicago of the 1920s. The cost of enforcing drug laws, according to research, is mind boggling.....


Rafe has a lot more to say, including the fact that legalization alone is most definitely not the one true answer. But it is hard not agree with him that without it we will always have gangsters and gangland bosses running around blowing each other up, not to mention innocent bystanders.

Especially if and when enforcement actually works.

Why?

Because if it is successful, enforcement will just drive the price of the crap up.

Which, of course, means higher profits, and higher incentives for the gangsters to have even bigger shooting wars in an attempt rub each other out.

OK?

.