Another Man's Opinion

Friday, February 29, 2008 03:45 AM

This article was submitted to us by a local businessman, husband, father.

According to Sgt. Shinder Kirk of the BC Integrated Gang Task Force , there are 129 known and active gangs in B.C.

For these illegal entrepreneurs to survive in our society they must grow their business. How else can they afford their lavish life style?

Who's going to pay for the expensive SUV's and the BMW's? Where is the cash coming from for their illegal guns? By every illegal means they can think of they must increase their cash flow.

How do gangs grow their business? Like every other good retailer in B.C. they expand their client base. And who then, Mr. and Mrs. British Columbia is their customer?

"YOUR CHILDREN "

Wake up and smell the marijuana. These people want and need YOUR CHILDREN. They can't grow and survive without them.

What's wrong with the word NO when it comes to allowing your children to attend a teen dance? It is a well known fact that these crafty > entrepreneurs will be in and around the dance "growing there business".

It's too late once your child has been exposed to Crystal Meth. All the > crying for help in the world will do them no good. You must be > proactive. Stand up and say "I cherish my family too much to expose them to gang members' abuse".

Mr. (or Ms) Politician, whether Provincial or Federal, is there any one of you that has the balls to stand up for what is right? Building rehab centers is a very honourable venture. But that's not the answer we need. If the political will is not there then a hue and cry must go up from British Columbians.

The laws of this province must change to eradicate these predators from our society.

PARENTS OF B.C. STAND UP AND LET OUR LEADERS KNOW YOU CARE.

Previous Story - Next Story

Email |

Print |

Facebook |

Twitter |

Digg |

Del.icio.us

Posted on Friday, February 29, 2008 03:45 AM in Views by Submitted Article

Return to Home

Comments

Posted by: owl on February 29 2008 6:36 AM

Children?

The greatest increase in the demographic group is the elderly. As people get older, they suffer from more aches and pains. Pot is one of the solutions.

I would think that is the growth market � people who grew up in the hippie era getting another kick at the toke smokin' cat.

;-)

Posted by: metalman on February 29 2008 7:35 AM

A serious topic, very serious. Crack and meth are easy to get, cheap, and extremely difficult to quit. I agree with the writer, it starts with the parents. We used to call that duty tough love. Can't say I set any examples, but I certainly understand the concept. These filth that purvey their misery should be put down. There should be no mercy for these creatures. The politicians do nothing, judging from what we see. Their response; build rehab facilities. Right. The horses have left the barn (years ago) and lets commission a study on how best to close the barn doors. Probably, within a year or two they will call for tenders from companies to nail those barn doors shut, so the horses (who have left) will never get out again. Oh, and I believe we should be legalizing marijuana for individual use. It should be grown under government supervision, distributed and taxed by all levels of government. Treat it just like alcohol. Same rules. This one action would shut down one arm of the misery business that the gangs inflict us with.
metalman.
Time for some radical change to our "justice" system.
metalman.

Posted by: heidi1555 on February 29 2008 7:47 AM

Exactly 100% dead on. Prevention in kids is where it starts. Your kids respect you more if you know how to say, "No!" My son started middle school in Sept. and when he asked if he could invite his new friends over I jumped at the chance. You never know...it starts so young.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on February 29 2008 8:14 AM

On the money! Good post!
Far too many parents try to be their kid's best friend, instead of saying "no" when they should.
It's not easy being a parent and feeling like the bad guy when you deny them something, but this is their life we are talking about here!
And kids do respect a parent that can say "no".
The only way to keep our kids safe is by paying attention to where they are going and who they are with.
They may not like that part,but that's a responsibility we take on when we have kids.
It's not a popularity contest and sometimes tough desicions are needed to protect our kids,more so today than ever before it would seem!

Posted by: EdH on February 29 2008 9:07 AM

If the "no" is not accompanied by reasonable, understandable explanation and suitable empathy for the child's interpretation, then its use will not generate respect but resentment -- casting the opposite effect and actually driving a motivation for the child to seek a more "yes" environment.

"Nos" that just seem arbitrary and are given with no reason will create the illusion that rules themselves are arbitrary and reasonless.

Even between generations, trust is critical in both sides of a relationship.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on February 29 2008 9:39 AM

I agree EdH,however, many times a child's logic does not allow them to understand what we as adults think is a reasonable explanation for saying "no".
Always a problem,especially with younger kids,but you are right,"trust" is everything when it comes to our kids.
If they trust the parent,they will also trust the "no" part,even if they don't like it much!

Posted by: Howrd_B_Stern on February 29 2008 10:04 AM

Yes prevention works wonders in fighting the drug war. Until the demand shrinks, the supply will continue to grow.

One comment I heard and this is not my own, is that if we have a drug war, why are we not fighting that war with soldiers instead of police? I read that somewhere in an Yves Lavigne book somewhere.

What does everyone else think?

Posted by: Andyfreeze on February 29 2008 10:07 AM

Yves Lavigne...yes!
Always a great read!

Posted by: heidi1555 on February 29 2008 10:08 AM

Yes I agree EdH. No with an age appropriate reasoning is a must. No because I said so won't cut it.
Also say No and mean it, don't give in and be a pushover. That only teaches your kid how to bully you and think he/she can get away with behaving that way. No respect for you, no or little respect for others or themselves and that can make them easy targets.

Posted by: heidi1555 on February 29 2008 10:19 AM

Howard that makes perfect sense...looks like it's getting to where that might be the only road to take. Scary to think about but it's more scary to think about my kids exposed/hooked on drugs.

Aaahhhh does the stress of parenting ever end??????

:)

Posted by: lostfaith on February 29 2008 10:23 AM

Posted by: EdH on February 29 2008 9:07 AM
If the "no" is not accompanied by reasonable, understandable explanation and suitable empathy for the child's interpretation, then its use will not generate respect but resentment -- casting the opposite effect and actually driving a motivation for the child to seek a more "yes" environment.

"Nos" that just seem arbitrary and are given with no reason will create the illusion that rules themselves are arbitrary and reasonless.

Even between generations, trust is critical in both sides of a relationship.
...........................................

I agree EdH however even with that my youngest daughter always sought out the yes environment. She was kicked out of our home 2 weeks before christmas because she couldn't live with rules. She was an A student at College heights Secondary until grade 12. Her friends thought it would be cool for her to get into drugs with them, you know who you are. It's not only pot our kids are into, it's everything.

Posted by: heidi1555 on February 29 2008 11:41 AM

lostfaith,
When I was 16 my mom and dad divorced and it really hit my 13 yr. old (at the time) sister hard. At school I noticed she started hanging out in the "student parking lot" and we all know what goes on there. So I confronted her and she begged me not to tell my dad (who we lived with.) I told her she better quit what she's doing now or i'll have no choice but to go to dad. She never quit so I went to dad and said he really needed to sit down and have a good heart to heart with his youngest. Felt bad for him as he was a single dad shift worker at the pulpmill and we all know how exhausting shift work is. He sat her down and let her know he knew and what he expected out of her and she opened up because of the way he went about it. They became really close after that and she bettered herself....wasn't too late. It's actually never too late to sit them down and get them to open up. I know you know this but I noticed you mentioned your daughter before in another article and thought it would be nice to know that someone cares. I hope she opens up to you and gets some help.

Posted by: Eagleone on February 29 2008 1:07 PM

Howard writes, "is that if we have a drug war, why are we not fighting that war with soldiers instead of police?"

We already have that called the 'war on terror' as in Iraq War. The result of 9/11 was to go to the solder rather then the police. I would have rather seen a police investigation of the crime scene and factual evidence used to solve the crime and bring the criminals to justice. Less global instability. Instead we have two wars, and further hypothetical�s created to diminish civil liberties in the name of security.

I think the idea that solders are the solution to the drug problem in society is an asinine comment.

IMO legalize pot, take the easy money away from the criminals and starve their ventures of cash flow so they don't have the opportunity to diversify their product line. Then work on solving the social ills that fuel the desperation of hard drug hideouts. Even for the most hard core addicted I don't think their addiction is their real problem, but rather the discrimination and lack of social support that fuel the drug problems.

Engaging in war using solders with our own society is not the solution. It would make the situation much worse with the animosities and violence it would spawn.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on February 29 2008 3:02 PM

I am just starting to believe that MAYBE legalizing weed might be a partial solution.
But,and it's a big but,it would only work if the penalties for illegally grown pot were so severe that only an idiot would take the chance on growing and selling it.
I think we know that would not happen.
There would also need to be severe penalties for under-age pot smokers as well,or what message would we be sending?
Like cigarettes that are sold on the black market at a much lower and tax free price,the same kind of market could develope for the dopers looking for a cheaper product.
It's a scary proposition at best, and my biggest fear is how it would relate to other drugs and the dealers who sell it.
That and the fact that there is no doubt our government would find a way to screw it all up and we would be worse off than when it was illegal!
In the end,I still believe that drug dealers should be treated the same as murders,because they do have that power over people.
They are parasites of the worst kind, and if they were treated that way,there would be many who get out of the business!

Posted by: lostfaith on February 29 2008 9:56 PM

Thanks Hiedi1555. Much appreciated.
Have tried that sit down thing over and over and over. She got worse and worse and worse. Not one iota of good came from anything we tried to do to help her. She isn't the one with the problem.

Posted by: Howrd_B_Stern on February 29 2008 11:44 PM

If you legalize pot, then the criminals will simply find a new drug to push on kids and they will find ways to make it cheaper than what the legal government drugs are. Why do you think crack cocaine is so popular? It costs little to buy and stretches drug profits out for dealers than simply selling cocaine.

Heidi I appreciate your comments on kids.

We really do owe it to them to try whatever we can to keep them safe.

Posted by: heidi1555 on March 1 2008 7:52 AM

Thanks Howard they are my life :)

Posted by: metalman on March 1 2008 11:10 AM

Good comments, above. Still, I advocate the idea of legalization. Obviously, the law has to get tougher on drug related crime of every kind, from b&e to the top of the filth food chain. It is true that the filth will find other drugs, other ways to pollute society, but to settle for that kind of argument is to settle for failure, which is what we have already. Failure of our government to protect the citizens of this couintry from the greed of the low life criminals. We need politicians who have backbone (some would call that an oxymoron) and who cannot be bought, to begin the process of change. I maintain that the first step is to provide for harsher penalties for all aspects of the filth business. Ignore the arguments about how much money this will cost; additional policing, more court time, more low lifes incarcerated, more supervision of parolled cons, sure it will create even more burden on our taxes, but what about the alternative?
metalman.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on March 2 2008 9:37 AM

"politicians who have backbone"...hmmm
Good point metalman!
There does appear to be certian qualifications that are manditory to bcoming to becoming a politician!
- Choose political party.(doesn't matter which one as they are all the same!)
1/ Remove brain.
2/ Remove backbone.
3/ Replace brain with the brain of a sheep.
4/ Replace backbone with spine of a jellyfish.
5/ Practice abiltiy to lie and manipulate.
6/ Practice puckering of lips for sucking up to party leadership.
7/ Destroy all self-respect and pride.
:-)

Posted by: owl on March 2 2008 11:07 PM

Interesting that no one has brought up the matter of intoxication through alcohol.

Legalizing vs. prohibition.
alcohol ....
cigarettes ....
marijuana .....

moood altering prescription drugs, go see your doctor and he will make you happy .... Ativan ... whatever you need ....

Parent to child typically is do as I say, not as I do ....

The problems typically occur in families where

1. one or more of the parents are into drinking, smoking, pot, pills .....

2. the parents are too busy dealing with their own lives and really don't have the time to devote to their kids ...

The key in my view is give kids a reason to live ..... give them things to be interested in .... if you are a couch potatoe, they will be too .... idleness will cause some to seek out activity and if they are not instilled with an ethic, they will find one for themselves ....