Alberta government will do 'whatever it takes' to stop Mexican drug cartels
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
193.77461
Summary
In this episode, we discuss the growing problem of fentanyl use in Canada and the impact it is having on our streets and on our communities. We also talk about the impact of the war on drugs and how we need to do more to fight it.
Transcript
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Yeah, Mexican cartels have been having some operations in Edmonton.
00:00:06.020
But the bottom line is where there's mass drug consumption, there's money.
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And where that money is, the drug dealers are going to follow.
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Arthur's story was very interesting talking to people and breaking that down.
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And these syndicates, these cartels, they're organized.
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That's why you get the shootings in the malls and the shootings in the streets.
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I mean, it's happening in Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, because, I mean, these are nasty people.
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And when one steps on the other one's turf, the drug wars begin.
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So, you know, that's when the innocent folks also get hit.
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I mean, with the drive-by shootings, things like that, you're in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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And suddenly some poor innocent person gets killed.
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Now, some of the discussion on that, fair enough for the drug enablers, say,
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well, if we just provide enough safe supply, then these cartels won't make any money, right?
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I mean, it's the same logic that prohibition with liquor, you know, the mafia was never at its strongest
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than when liquor consumption was illegal in the United States and in Canada.
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And they could, of course, illicitly supply it to everybody because everybody wanted to keep drinking.
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But the issue is that, again, these addicts aren't on something.
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There's a lot of people who enjoyed a few drinks.
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A lot of people can responsibly enjoy a few drinks.
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You become one of those zombies on the streets.
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Now, again, try to find ways to make it less profitable for the cartels, absolutely.
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But if we supplied it, if the government supplies it, we're seeing that in Vancouver already.
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They go out and they peddle that because they want to buy the harder, nastier stuff that the street dealers can provide them.
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We've got to remember, you're not dealing with rational people.
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We're talking about people in the throes of a terrible addiction.
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That's why, and I think, you know, some of the well-meaning people have never been addicted to something.
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And that's why we see some of the strongest advocates, like in Alberta with Marshall Smith.
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Myself, I've talked about my own, you know, recovery from alcohol and putting a number of things up my nose for a period of time.
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That took a lot of recovery and a program as well for me.
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Once you've been there, you find out, though, you realize because addictions aren't sustainable.