AN ARGUMENT THAT'S GONE TO POT

Another day, another targeted shooting.

Such is life (and death) in the Lower Mainland these days.

In the past few months, there have been 37 shootings, with three
occurring just over the weekend.

The escalating violence is leaving residents rattled. And rightly so.

Finding people to blame is the easiest part of this crisis. The
courts, the police, the politicians, even parents share
responsibility for the carnage, according to some.

To one group however, the solution is simple: decriminalize
marijuana. With knee-jerk regularity they claim every gangland
slaying and every drive-by attack could be avoided if marijuana were
legally obtainable.

Their argument rests on a comparison with the prohibition of alcohol
in the 1920s. Gangs and guns went hand-in-hand with the distribution
of the contraband. Once the prohibition was lifted, they say, the
tommy guns were silenced.

But did organized crime truly die with prohibition?

Hardly.

Although one lucrative tap was shut off (with the diverted proceeds
running freely into government coffers), organized criminals simply
found other sources of wealth. Because that's what they do. That's
their business.

Besides, the illegal drug industry is a North American-wide problem.
If Canada welcomes the weed, there will still be a black market south
of the border in the U.S. and Mexico. And of course harder drugs like
cocaine, crystal meth and heroin - not to mention guns - will still
be bought and sold.

To assume the gangster wannabes will hang up their Kevlar vests just
because marijuana becomes easier to acquire is simplistic at best.

Certainly we can have the discussion about the effectiveness of our
courts or police chasing everyone at the whiff of a smoldering joint.

But let's not be so naive as to believe the people who are capable of
spraying a mother with machine gun fire while her four-year-old son
is in the back seat of the car will transition smoothly into civilian
life once their illicit income runs dry.

The public deserves a more intelligent response.