CAN’T WE HAVE A NICE, PEACEFUL DRUG TRADE? I guess not.
When you have an economic sector that’s completely unregulated, the business owners will regulate it themselves.
And when violence is already a well-established business practice, the only law to respect is the law of the jungle: kill or be killed.
According to Kamloops RCMP, that law was enforced twice in our fair city on Wednesday.
Police say the shootings at separate Kamloops hotels were related to the drug trade, and though both of the victims’ families have reached out to vouch for their characters, that hasn’t stopped a lot of the public from dismissing them completely.
“Rats killing rats” is a sentiment that has been expressed in a variety of terms since this happened, and in relation to many organized crime-related killings throughout BC in the past years.
The hardened among us would say the victims have forfeited their rights to empathy, even if family members who saw the other side still weep for those they lost.
There is also the concern about unintended targets getting caught up in a crossfire situation when there is gunplay.
It’s pretty rare, but it does happen from time to time.
But beyond the debate over empathy and the threat to bystanders, there is good reason for those of us who aren’t involved in the drug trade to be very concerned about this.
Kamloops is on the intersection of several major highways, meaning we get both the bigwigs and the foot soldiers passing through here on their way to and from the Lower Mainland.
The flip side of that coin is that we also benefit from everyone else passing through here and staying at our hotels.
Many of those people are looking for lodging at reputable hotels with names they recognize – names like Super 8 and Comfort Inn.
This type of thing won’t look good for those hotel chains, but really won’t look good for the local tourism industry.
People won’t want to stay at a chain hotel in Kamloops if they fear their wake up call might come in speeding projectile form.
For so many reasons, it is imperative that society works together to get this issue under control.
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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.
