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Dear Sir,

I believe two major factors have contributed to Bermuda's steady rise in crime over the past decade.

Firstly, a considerable increase in GDP per capita. The result is that Bermudians today have more material wealth than in the past. There is also a lot more material available for us to purchase such as cellphones, laptops, flat screen TVs and so on.

With more items like these available in the average Bermudian home and society's undying love for material wealth, a black market to shift these items for cash must be out there.

The demand is there, so career criminals will seek to meet this demand. Police must aim to uncover and limit the availability of these items on the black market. People must be responsible enough to purchase these items from a retailer instead of on the street.

Also, legislation needs to be implemented to control the re-sale, registration and maintenance (repair) of electrical goods, to make it harder for black market dealers to shift.

The second major factor is hard drug usage. Due to Bermuda's small size, smuggling drugs into the island involves a considerable risk for those foolish enough to do it. This, paired with hard-line drug laws, make the street price of narcotics high and also the supply low.

There will always be drug addicts, from all walks of life. It is a personality disorder common among human beings. So no matter how the police reduce supply, arrest drug dealers, drug users and seek to eradicate them from society, the net affect is an increase in price per unit.

As a result, the opportunity for major financial gain is there and greed will lead to violence and crime. Gangs will fight each other because the monetary value of the product they wish to sell is so high. Like any business, it is about competition and the higher the price, the higher the stakes and the harder the competition. Ultimately, individuals involved in crime want to achieve two things; power, and money to feed their drug habit.

So what I am proposing - and this will upset all the right wing, conservative Bermudians on this island - is to ease up on the harsh penalties for drugs, especially those deemed less harmful, such as cannabis.

A youth arrested for cannabis receives a criminal record and is then put on the stop list, which eliminates possibilities for that person to pursue further education in North America. What options are left for that individual to succeed in the rat race? Crime, maybe?

No more 400% profits

So if the police want to de-value the price of hard drugs on the street, reduce the penalties associated with them. Then the crack user would be able to afford his crack, and not need to rob houses to support his habit.

The dealer is not making 400 per cent profit on his product, so he is no longer earning as much money, which will no longer make it an attractive opportunity. Because the value of the product has lowered, it is no longer feasible to have a feud with rival drug dealers, because it isn't worth it.

The results would be that the drug trade would not be as profitable or attractive and would no longer affect law abiding, non-drug using Bermudian as much. Also, those who choose to take hard drugs are still the same addicts they are today, except they don't need to turn to crime in order to get by.

It might sound crazy but maybe all drugs should be legal. Keeping them being illegal does not protect anyone; everyone knows they are bad for you but people still choose to use them and will buy them no matter the risk or cost. At least if they were legal they could be taxed and controlled.

Look at when Prohibition was introduced in the U.S. Not only did it fund the violent criminal underworld of the mafia but also, the demand for alcohol never went away. My conclusion is that hard line legislation will never work to stem crime - you have to combat it at the source. The source is addiction to money or substance, so reconcile the relationship between the two and society will be more responsible and safer as a whole.

John-Paul Doughty

Warwick[[In-content Ad]]

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