Pubdate: Wed, 18 Feb 2009 Source: Penticton Western (CN BC) Copyright: 2009 Penticton Western Contact: http://www.pentictonwesternnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1310 SOLUTIONS NEEDED TO END THE VIOLENCE In the past two weeks, bullets have been flying on the streets and mall parking lots of Surrey, Langley, Abbotsford, Coquitlam and Vancouver. The Lower Mainland has become a war zone - a disorganized orgy of violence between gangs and their bit-player members, fighting for control of the drug trade, exacting revenge for earlier hits, and carrying out retribution for crossed loyalties, broken deals, and threats and insults, perceived or real. Even the presence of a four-year-old child isn't enough to persuade the trigger-happy killers to hold their fire. The situation is appalling, and utterly unacceptable. And while the police are doing whatever is within their legally restricted powers to do, the response of government at the provincial and federal level has been anemic. For instance, last week the attorney general trotted out a recent study that found B.C.'s courts are not the softest in Canada. The vast majority of the public isn't concerned with which legal system is the most lenient. They simply want the violence to stop. The entire nation needs to be far tougher on these morally vacant thugs who care nothing for anyone but themselves. That means public safety being the primary consideration of bail hearings. It means severe punishment for gun crimes. It means no plea bargaining for reduced charges. It means no probation and early parole on sentences. It also means a focused examination and debate on the massively expensive and ineffective war on drugs. The current drug strategy is merely fueling the insanely profitable illicit drug trade and creating the bloody havoc being wrought on the streets. It's time politicians came to grips with this stark reality, and started talking seriously about progressive solutions. The criminal justice system should be made as tight as possible - and it should be - but it will not solve crime associated with drugs. Now let's start dealing with that fact. - --- MAP posted-by: dan