Pubdate: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 Source: Red Deer Advocate (CN AB) Copyright: 2005 Red Deer Advocate Contact: http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2492 Author: Kirk Stephens MARIJUANA NOT TO BLAME FOR OFFICERS' DEATHS It is a tragedy that four police officers, who had dedicated their lives to helping others, have been taken from us. We all share in the grief their loss brings. Out of this tragedy will come the opportunity to assess the reasons these officers' lives were taken and make sure that these circumstances are never repeated. Rational thought and reflection must be taken in the weeks and months to come. The last thing we need is a knee-jerk reaction that will do more harm than good. The fact remains that a deranged lunatic with a hate on for everyone, especially cops, was allowed to live among the community and was somehow able to get his hands on a high-powered rifle that clearly he should never have been able to possess in the first place. This criminal was obviously a dangerous person who was well known to the police and his community. The lunatic was likely to unleash his dogs or shoot at anyone who dared to set foot on his property. Knowing these facts, the four slain officers were ordered by their superior officers to enter the property unprepared to deal with what was about to come at them. This story is not about grow-ops. It's about police procedures and how we as a society allow dangerous criminals to live unsupervised among us. If all that we can do about this tragedy is go out of our way to crack the skulls of a bunch of pot growers, then we are going to be guilty of missing the point. The proper response will be to evaluate how to make our communities safer by keeping the types of people that would shoot at someone out of society and how to improve police procedures so never again will we lose an officer walking into a situation unprepared. And finally, we must review the legalization of marijuana so that production is regulated and taxed like alcohol. Kirk Stephens Red Deer - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin