A Storm Brewing

There has been a storm brewing in our community for a while now. We have a nation wide reputation as the crime capital of Canada and the statistics bear that out. We have another nation wide reputation that is in direct contradiction to the first one, and the statistics also bear it out. We are not only the Bible belt of Canada, but our community of 120,000 is known as the buckle of the Bible belt. How is it that these two contrasting lifestyles can live side by side? Ponder as I might, I cannot come up with a theory on that one. Obviously the faith community is not involved in the gang warfare, but neither is it having a positive influence on the situation. The tools in the arsenal of crime fighting are not sharp nor are they effective and that may be the biggest problem. We have a new Police Chief who is determined to do something about this terrible situation, but his efforts will only be effective insofar as the justice system is effective. But that is where the real problem lies. As long as known offenders are out on parole and are racking up the convictions without paying any penalty, the problem will only worsen. The legal industry is very good at feeding off the justice system and in so doing, justice is not done at all. There has to be a strong political will, brought about by a unified cry from ordinary citizens, before the system will change. That much bandied about term "zero tolerance" means nothing in our pluralistic, politically correct, over tolerant society who's main aim is to preserve the rights and freedoms of all to do anything they please and suffer no consequences. The result of this present day system is that we have well known gangsters roaming the malls and restaurants of our city wearing bullet proof vests and carrying automatic weapons while the police have their hands tied because they might infringe on some one's rights if they arrest them.
I can't believe I am about to say this, but because this whole crime scene is driven by the illegal drug trade, perhaps it is time to legalize the drugs and then undertake a massive education drive to get people to stay away from drugs. The criminals will be out of business and if the education system works for drugs like it does for smoking tobacco, we will have solved two problems. Desperate times call for desperate measures. This is only an idea, and not an original one, so don't shoot me. I'm not wearing my bullet proof vest.