Drug debt murders: how to put an end to the ongoing plague

   It's time to put an end to drug debt murders, an ongoing plague that needlessly claims bright and energetic entrepreneurs sentenced to death simply for falling behind on their payments.
  Have you ever fallen behind on your rent? Forgotten to pay your cell phone bill?
  Imagine if debt collection agencies had a murder squad out there to kill you for it.
   Crazy at it sounds, murder happens routinely to people who simply lose fall into debt to their supplier.
   Police and mainstream media press-release-retypers dismiss these murder tragedies by invoking such dismissive terms as "known to the police" or "underworld settling of accounts."
   But these victims are real people, they are us: bright, well-loved and non-violent people simply responding to a market demand, as we have shown on many occasions on Coolopolis.
   These murder victims have loved ones, families, children who suffer from their loss. Even the killer and his family suffers, as they are infected by soul-deadening guilt or possible imprisonment.
   So when an NDG drug dealer killed his longtime friend in 2003 over a drug dealing debt, the suffering went well beyond that of the victim and his family. The killer was forced to live away from his wife and children, who were raised without their father.

   Our tax dollars paid the costly of trial and lengthy imprisonment.
   Of course, the killer's bullets eliminated any chance of recouping his money, so the exercise was entirely counterproductive for all of us.

Bright lights put out

   Many bright lights have been extinguished by this madness right here in Montreal.
   Well-loved concert promoter Dutch Garner was savagely killed in the prime of his life simply for owing money to a drug dealer.  Elizabeth Barrer, an able entrepreneur who dabbled in trafficking marijuana, was gunned down dead in Lachine for similar reasons.
   Bad News Brown, a widely-loved and respected local entertainer was possibly killed due to a drug/money conflict - although some believe it was a jealous lover who did it.  Nonetheless all Montreal lost out when he died, as he was a great talent who gave much to the whole city.
   Have a good look at Montreal's missing persons list and you'll see at least three others with similar untold stories.
   Drug retailers are not necessarily bad, mean or violent people. They are simply helping supply an existing demand for a product that has been arbitrarily deemed illegal.
   Drug usage has been declining steadily anyway, as people have come to their senses about what they put into their bodies, so the scope of the trade is no longer too large for the government to get a grip on.
   But it needs to be addressed as the blood continues to flow as the insanity reigns.
   Another example: imagine your small store suffered a theft. You would call your insurer, declare bankruptcy, or arrange a line of credit Nobody would be trying to murder you.
   However that's exactly what you would face if somebody stole the stash your guy fronted you, or your embittered ex grabbed the $20,000 she knew you kept hidden in your sofa.
   Such mishaps should be a minor setback, not a death sentence.
   You shouldn't have to make your funeral arrangements, say farewell to your loved ones or write your will because of such a setback.
   Lawmakers have failed to address this problem because they are academics, journalists, doctors and bankers. The world of daring entrepreneurs is foreign tot hem and the drug dealer lobby is not very strong.

  Some possible solutions

•  Legalization. Upside: could eradicate the illegal drug trade and thereby also decrease the many gratuitous drug rip-off murders unrelated to debts. It would create a new stream of government tax revenue but it also might encourage drug use. 
•  Insurance drug dealers might have access to a confidential insurance fund that they pay into which would front them money when faced with the threat of murder. Downside: numbers might be difficult, if not impossible to organize, however. 
• Charity or government humanitarian relief. A person who owes money should be able to go to a confidential third party group for mediation in the aims of organizing a debt-resettlement plan that would satisfy both sides. 
• Police protection Refuge, relocation and identity concealment could be offered to those imperiled by such situations.