Drug Trends in BC

There could be several reasons why British Columbia has some of the highest recorded drug reports in Canada. To start if you look at Victoria and Vancouver, which has had the highest rates in Canada since 1991, They are both right on an Ocean. There could be more drug busts recorded because it is much easier to traffic drugs on water then on land. These drugs could be coming up anywhere along the coast of the United States, or all the way down to Mexico and Columbia. This could also explain the increasing amounts of Cocaine in Canada.

As for Marijuana, it is extremely popular in the province of BC. It (in comparison) is inexpensive and easy to obtain. Almost anyone can be a dealer, from your Gangs (The Hell's Angels or The Banditos) all the way down to the teenagers roaming around the streets. Not only is it easy to obtain, it is easy enough for most people to grow given the right conditions, thus making it a popular way of making money.

On that note, I think the best theory that explains why people commit crime is Rational Choice Theory. The punishment for being caught with Marijuana is very low, and even so can be said the same for distribution, to a certain extent. If the payout of the crime will be higher then the risk, people are likely to take the easy path with the high payout and a higher paying "career" then what could possibly be a low or minimum wage paying job.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/police+bust+international+drug+ring/9063055/story.html

In the link above, the news article explains that a ring of people based out of Ottawa who were connected with BC Gangsters, were caught trying to smuggle $35 000 000 worth of Cocaine and Methamphetamine's out of Canada in furniture to Australia. In going back on the theory that I used earlier I believe that the reason people would have tried to pull something off like this is because they believed that the payout would be greater then the risk (however, they were wrong) and decided to try and pull it off, even though someone they were connected with tried to pull of a similar international drug traffic and was arrested in the midst of doing so.

Personal Gain Theory

      My theory on why crime happens is people commit crime because in some way, shape or form, they are going to gain something from it. People don't commit crime if they aren't getting something out of it. This could be money, an item that may have a certain value to the person, sexual pleasure, etc. People aren't likely to commit crime just because they want too, they will usually do it because they're trying to get a lot out of something but at the same time put very little work into it. For example, if someone robbed a liquor store, they might spend only a few minutes prepping for it, walk in and rob it at gun point, and for what was potentially very little work and low risk the crime could have a high payoff.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2013/11/18/21275371.html

    In the link above is of a recent "Rogue Dentist" who was doing dental work out of his own home, and 10 years previously he had been ordered by the Supreme Court too stop. When his home was searched, a client list of 1500 people was found and from the results of his work, put the said amount of people at risk to diseases and infections such as HIV and Hepatitis. I believe that the reason he ignored the court order was because of the potential payout for himself was large. Dentists do make large amounts of money and weighing the potential risk of his crime vs. how much he is going to make may have influenced the reason for his decision to continue his dental work, and risk the health of his patients.