Want to stop West Coast gang violence? Legalize drugs, says expert

On the 80th anniversary of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, Ehor Boyanowsky, a criminologist at Simon Fraser University, draws a compelling parallel between the gang wars of Prohibition-era Chicago and those in modern-day Vancouver, arguing the drug trade has taken on the proportions of the booze trade back in the 30s.  Boyanowsky, who specializes in violence and aggressive behaviour, compares current "empty prattling of countless learned commentators regarding the need for increased police resources" to the misguided campaigns of the Depression-era temperance movement. "The only panacea," he says, "is the legalization and government regulation of illegal drugs."

The Vancouver Sun