Toronto's Gun Crisis - Canada is not as safe as it use to be.

In the last three years Canada started to see the increase in crime. I noticed in my community which is a suburb of Toronto is getting violent. Vandalisim is just as bad here as in the downtown core. We have a few shootings just a kilometer from my house. Just recently someone was killed in a home invasion in my niegbourhood. Guns are out of control in Toronto. We have almost a murder a day somewhere in this city and it's outskirts.

This leaves me to ask one question .... WHAT HAPPENDED TO US?

We never had such a severe rash of crimes in a long time. They say that Toronto this year will have more murders then Manhattan at the rate we are at. Recently we discovered that guns in Canada are coming in from the United States. Mosty the guns used in the murders are unregistered. Even with our strict gun laws.

I'm blaming this rash of crime on the US/Canada border being too porous and thug culture. Thug Culture is what's getting promoted by rap music and movies, don't deny it. Thug Culture is a subculture all about drugs, guns, money, and violence. This subculture is present in all ethnic backgrounds and is the main contributor to the problem.

CBC Toronto - Gang member interview
"This is not a gun problem, it's a cultural problem," he said.

"It's associated with narcotics and with a lifestyle. There are particular subcultures that place an emphasis on being a strong man and a violent man."

Recently I began to lock my door at night. I don't feel safe anymore. Marijauna is a narcotic and I don't care what people say, time to get it off the streets.

See the full article - toronto.cbc.ca...

I know alot of ATS members live in Toronto and Canada I wanted to know what your opinion is on this.

As an American who has lived in Canada for the past twenty years, I too am alarmed at the sudden increase in crime. But I am dumbfounded that you would somehow associate this influx in crime with Marijuana. Marijuana has been, as you and most other Canadians must know, quite prevalent in the news -- and on the streets -- for quite a number of years. You should note that there hasn't been an increase in crime during much of that period that could possibly be attached to marijuana.

The culprit, in my opinion, is CRYSTAL METH. This very cheap, easy to produce and highly addictive drug is the driving force for much of this street violence. No wonder that the Canadian government recently enacted extremely harsh punishments for the manufacture, sale and use of Crystal Meth. In some instances, a life sentence can be handed down for this most destructive substance. Furthermore, the Canadian government is looking towards developing a system of drug treatment centers for the victims of Crystal Meth addiction.

When keeping this in mind, it is odd to link Marijuana with the violence when the government is looking towards decriminalization. It is clear that the government, on the other hand, has made a definite link with Crystal Meth. Remember, Marijuana is NOT physically addictive. One cannot say that about Crystal Meth.

As for the violence problem being a cultural problem, well I also have to agree with that, at the risk of appearing racist. However, there are some cultures in the multicultural mileau that IS Canada that seem to be surrounded by a culture of violence and crime. Education is, it seems, the only real answer to help incorporate these disenfranchised cultures into the general peaceable multicultural dream that embodies Canada.

I would say that there are two reasons why crime is up in Canada:

1/ Minor issue: Enforced gun registration: This force the criminals to stockpile weapons and hence more likely to use them for fear of being shot at.

2/ Main reason: Drug related due to the rise of grow-ops and the need to defend them, not aginst the police but against the fellow raiders.

Since the rise of the Vietnamese gangs, the Soviet gangs and the Punjabe gangs, and their invasion of the traditional turf of the Hell Angles; the drug scene had become quite violently complex and everybody is on the look out for raiders from the other gangs. Trigger happy is a mild word.

Drugs are cheaper where it is produced, thus Meth and Grass is cheap in Canada, but the other hard drugs are expensive, and the influx of addicts into Greater Toronto and Vancouver caused petty crime to go up.

But the increase in gun crime itself is mostly due to grow-ops.