Pubdate: Fri, 13 Jan 2006 Source: Kamloops This Week (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 Kamloops This Week Contact: http://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1271 Author: Markus Ermisch Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction) LEGALIZE, 'MEDICALIZE' DRUGS Conservatives, Liberals and New Democrats shoot rifles with bent barrels when it comes to their stance on gun control, argues local Green party candidate Matthew Greenwood. The Liberals' gun registry and their proposed handgun ban are "making things a little difficult for gun owners, even for farmers," argues the Thompson Rivers University student, who is just completing his degree in economics and political science. The Conservatives, on the other hand, use a heavy-handed law-and-order approach, want to lock people up and "throw away the key," according to Greenwood, adding that the NDP emphasizes a soft approach by including youth centres as part of the solution to curbing gun violence. "But [gun] violence comes out of organized crime and the illegal drug trade," Greenwood said. "So the most reasonable solution is to cut gangs and remove the lucrative drug trade." In other words: Legalize drugs and implement harm reduction programs, such as safe-injection sites. Legalizing drugs, Greenwood said, would "be a huge new source of revenue for the government. In B.C., the No. 1 industry is pot, and it's illegal." Soft drugs like marijuana should certainly be legalized, whereas hard drugs should be "medicalized," which, Greenwood said, means to provide them cleanly and safely. And if crime loses its major source of revenue once drugs are legalized, gun violence will drop accordingly, Greenwood said. "This is the least ideologically driven solution," he said. "It would reduce gang violence." It's as easy as understanding the basics of the laws of supply and demand, Greenwood said, arguing that other parties haven't come up with the same solution because of their ideological bias and consequent refusal to look at issues holistically. "The other parties just deal with the symptoms," Greenwood said. "The Greens think that's an approach doomed to failure." Green party candidate says such a move would cripple organized crime - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom