& — Wednesday, November 5, 1997 — North Shore News

north shere news

MAIL BOX

Money key to crug trade

Dear Editor:

I could add my voice to those dis- agreeing with Leo Knight’s rejection of “safe houses” for addicts and other drug decriminalization measures, but I would prefer to add the voices of William F. Buckley, Jr., and six other blue-ribbon American conservatives.

To read their views, look up the Feb. 12, 1996, National Review or point your Web browser to http://www. townhall.com /nationalreview/12feb96/ drug.html

Drug war crusaders should pay special attention to the section written by 35- year police veteran Joseph McNamara, who zeroes in on the fundamental dynamic behind drug-related crime in his first four words: “It’s the money, stupid.”

Drug-related crime comes in three basic forms: © robberies (and more serious crimes associated with robberies) committed by addicts; ; © crimes of violence and destruction committed by drug suppliers fighting for control of a market area or a source of supply; . © and, as Mr. McNamara points out, cor- ruption of law enforcement officials who are trying to fight the “war on drugs.”

Clearly, the prime motivation behind all these crimes is the high price of drugs.

The addict steals because “normal” jobs do not generate enough income to buy drugs; the suppliers fight to the death because enormous profits are worth

fighting for, and the enforcers are cor- rupted because the criminals can afford large payoffs, or because the enforcers themselves can make far more money by turning criminal than by doing their jobs.

The prices are high, and the profits are enormous, primarily because drugs are illegal.

By outlawing these substances, we have achieved cwo outcomes. Fist, we have given organized crime a near-total monopoly over the trade, a monopoly which is strengthened every time another basement marijuana operation is “bust- ed.”

Second, our interceptions and seizures give the drug lords what must be the most effective supply-management ser- vice in the history of international trade.

Remember, OPEC ultimately failed to maintain high oi! prices and - profits because it could not stop some of its members from flooding the market with cheaper oil.

The drug lords need have no fear of this; it is law enforcement effort, paid for by our tax money, which prevents the supply of drugs at the end user level from growing enough to meet the demand at a reasonable price.

Am Lin favor of drugs? Of course not. Nor is Mr. Buckfey, nor are any of the other authors of the National Review article.

But whether anyone is in favor of them or not, they exist. There is no way that I or Mr. Buckley (or Mr. Knight, for

Fur fashion promotes abuse

Dear Editor:

I was very sorry to see the North Shore News promoting abuse of animals in its Oct. 12 issue. On page 19, design- ers are championing fur, both faux and real this season.

Page 12 showed a picture of a woman and a man captioned “So and so chats with fur fashion designer «..” and his name.

Mentioning fashion and fur in such a light and positive way definitely promotes

RELEASED FROM FREIGHT CUSTOM BONDED WAREHOUSE FOR DISPOSAL

abuse of animals.

Let’s look at the animals’ side of fash- ion: 11 lynx equals one coat, 100 squir- rels equals one coat, 27 raccoons equals one coat, 11 to 18 foxes equals one coat, 30 muskrat equals one coat. Plus snares, leg-hold traps, acute suffering and death.

Please — it’s long past time we learned to cherish these beautiful animals, not

. abuse them in the name of fashion.

Lori Fitzgerald Burnaby

that matter) can exercise enough contro} over the behavior of 300 million or so North Americans to guarantee that 100% of chem will be non-users, as we are.

The experience of Prohibition should have taught Canada and the U.S. that shutting down trade in psychoactive drugs is simply impossible.

The proper question, then, is which kind of trade provides the most benefit for the most people: legalized, regulated distribution of narcotics at low profits, or the existing illegal, unregulated, and excessively profitable system.

The answer is clear.

The current system enriches organized crime (and justifies drug warriors who build bureaucratic empires) at the direct expense of everyone else: addicts, rob- bery victims, insurance companies and their customers, innocent bystanders trapped in drug turf wars, and taxpayers.

In contrast, legalized distribution would enable addicts to supply them- selves without stealing, would reduce drug profits to a level where organized crime would not even want to participate in the trade, and would release a great deal of police resources and tax money to serve other urgent public priorities.

Under any reasonable cost-benefit comparison, legalization is the better choice by a gargantuan margin. Remember: “It’s the money, stupid.” Stephen Finlay North Vancouver sfinlay@sfu.ca

MAILBOX POLICY

LETTERS to the editor must be leg- ible (preferably typewritten) and include your name, full address and telephone number. Due to space con- straints the North Shore News cannot publish all letters. Published lerters may be edited for brevity, clarity, accu- racy, legality and taste. Submissions can be faxed to 985-2104 but still must be signed and fully addressed,

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