A new opinion poll shows that the Metro Vancouver public are generally supportive of “a series of proposed justice reforms to curb gang activity and nearly two-thirds also back the legalization of marijuana” as a means of taking the profit out of the drug trade that fuels much of the current gangland shootings we’ve seen.

While there is a good argument in favour of these measures it should be noted that none of them are a panacea to the crime wave that’s plaguing the region.

It probably is an enormous waste of money and police resources to after every marijuana user in the country, but legalization would not take the profit out of the trade — unless the drug was legalized in the United States as well as in Canada. This is highly unlikely to occur, because President Barack Obama’s new administration has much bigger issues on its plate right now than liberalization of their drug laws.

This province purportedly produces about $3 billion a year of “BC Bud” and in all likelihood only consumes a fraction of that amount. The rest is exported, primarily to the U.S., where it fetches a significantly higher price than it does in B.C. We’ve seen gang-affiliated criminals bringing the BC Bud across the U.S. border in the floor of cattle trailers, in duffel bags hurled across the “unguarded border” and we’ve even seen a tunnel dug by hand by BC Bud smugglers right next to the Aldergrove-Lynden border station.

There is simply too much money to be made in this cross-border trade, which also brings guns and cocaine into Canada from the U.S. Liberalizing Canada’s drug laws alone won’t take this lucrative profit out of the illegal businesses operated by the gangs and organized criminals in Canada and the U.S.

Nor do the law enforcement and justice systems have all the answers. Beefing up both is, however, the only solution to getting the hardened criminals off the street. The only thing these reprobates fear is a good butt-kicking by police and the courts, although this will require creative solutions too.

Remember that infamous gangster Al Capone was impervious to the best efforts of police and justice until a bright mind came up with a brilliant solution: nail him on income tax evasion on his undeclared income. Capone died in jail — of syphilis, mind you — but if not for this Internal Revenue conviction he’d have lived all his life a free man.

But a multi-pronged approach is needed to prevent youths from even considering entry into a life of crime.

That means spending more money and resources on programs that offer youngsters a healthy alternative and a positive future. This includes recreation programs and intervention programs that provide positive role models for youths, as well as interaction between youths and adults, including authorities such as police officers.

This takes a commitment from government as well as ordinary people such as you and I. This is why I plan to join the Big Brothers movement, and suggest that you consider doing the same or similar.

I might not have the swankest house or drive a fancy SUV, but I think I’m an allright guy who can share a good time with a little bloke, and give him something other than a game of Grand Theft Auto on his computer to occupy his time with. I can help him with his reading skills or take him to a game or show, or to boxing or music lessons, or a walk in the park — whatever his interests might be, I can encourage him to pursue them.

This is not to imply that all kids from single-parent homes are destined to a life of crime, or that the criminal lifestyle doesn’t attract kids from solid, two-parent families.

But if I and each one of us contribute something positive to the kids in our community, perhaps we can chart the way to a future that values humanity and respect for each other.