Pubdate: Thu, 26 Jul 2012 Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Copyright: 2012 The Ottawa Citizen Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326 Author: R.T. Lee AN MCBO? Re: Rhetoric won't solve gun violence, July 24. This editorial on gun violence points out that gun-toting criminals have the money, and that it is no wonder many teens in poor neighbourhoods seek to emulate them. It follows then that we ask how it is that the bad guys have the money? The answer is obvious: we have criminalized the use of high-demand soft drugs like marijuana and hashish, creating scarcity and high prices, thereby lining the pockets of the sellers. Clearly, it is illegal drugs that provide gangs with the cash flow to buy the cars, guns and ammunition. We accept that alcohol and tobacco, with their long list of deleterious effects, must be made available to adults. We must accept the same rationale for soft drug use. A Marijuana Control Board of Ontario would be the absolute worst news for the gun-toting thugs in our cities. But as long as we continue the failed war on drugs, i.e. Prohibition II, there will be no solution to gang violence. The intransigence of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama (and the news media) on this issue certainly does not bode well. R.T. Lee, Toronto - --- MAP posted-by: Matt