Letters To The Editor Column

RE: "LET'S GIVE SAFE SHOOTING GALLERIES A CHANCE"

RE: "LET'S give safe shooting galleries a chance," Mindelle Jacobs, Aug.
26. Safe injection rooms for heroin addicts are a step in the right
direction, but they do nothing to undermine the thriving black market and
protect future generations from addiction. Because heroin is sold via an
unregulated black market, its quality and purity fluctuates tremendously.
An addict accustomed to low-quality heroin who unknowingly uses near pure
heroin will likely overdose. Also, addicts would not commit crimes to
support their habits if not for artificially inflated black-market prices.

Robert Sharpe
Washington, D.C.

(Getting involved in the drug trade is not easy for governments.)