The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Flin Flon RCMP concluded a press release announcing their latest drug bust by thanking the concerned citizens who helped in their investigation. "The war on drugs is only as strong as the community that wants to fight the war," it read. Truer words were never written. Last week's seizure of what police said was approximately $1,000 worth of crack cocaine reminds us that drugs Ð even the so-called hard variety Ð are not just a big city problem. That's why it's so important for law-abiding citizens to tell authorities any information they may have on drug operations. It's when good people look the other way that crime continues. It's when we rise as a community and declare zero tolerance that things improve. Given our fairly close-knit nature, I've heard it said that "everybody knows" who the Flin Flon and area drug dealers are. People who buy into this sentiment are left to wonder why, if the dealers' identities are common knowledge, police aren't able to catch more of them. The problem is that everybody doesn't know who they are. These aren't guys walking up and down the streets in colourful striped hats announcing, "Drugs, get'cher drugs here." We can't expect the police to know every lowlife in town. In many ways, a police force can only be as good as the community supporting it. Perhaps one reason more people don't step forward with information is fear. They think that because it's a small town, the drug dealers will somehow know who blew the whistle and launch some sort of retaliation. But how will they find out? If I were to call Manitoba Crime Stoppers (1-800-222-TIPS) right now, the person on the other end of the line would not know my identity. He or she wouldn't even know the phone number from which I'm calling. I wouldn't be called on to testify. As long as I'm not an idiot and refrain from blabbing about it to everyone, how on earth would the drug dealers know? There might be others who aren't overly worried about a dealer they know of because he sells only "soft" drugs, i.e. marijuana. Pot isn't nearly the societal concern it once was. But if we are willing to let marijuana slide, what's to stop that dealer from moving up to more lucrative opportunities? Whenever I read about a cocaine, crystal meth or ecstasy bust, be it in The Pas or Winnipeg, the guilty party is almost always found to have also been dealing in marijuana. Are we to trust people who are already criminals from not bringing in more "hard" drugs? When I first considered a column encouraging the passing on of drug-related information to authorities, one person gave me this feedback: "Sounds good Ð as long as you don't mind having the drug dealers mad at you." Yes, far be it from me to offend these fine, upstanding and incredibly valuable members of our society. I'm sure other than their criminal career path, they're the nicest of people. Why, there's one right now, helping an old lady cross the street. But seriously. I suppose it is possible a drug dealer is reading this right now and getting flustered. Maybe he's worried one of you will pass on what you know. Good. Let's hope he's antsy. Those of us who care about this community want him to be as uncomfortable as possible before being caught. Local Angle runs Fridays.
