ILLEGALITY MAKES DRUGS RISKY

I appreciated the article in the July 15 Commentary section that
demonstrates the madness of drug prohibition. As an intensive-care-unit
nurse, I have observed that most critical admissions of illegal drug users
are a result of the illegality and not the physiological or psychotropic
effects of the substances.

Local and systemic infections, heart valve disease and even overdoses
usually occur because of the inconsistent purity and quality of black
market drugs and the unhealthy circumstances under which addicts may be
forced to use them. Use of heroin would be fairly safe compared to alcohol,
tobacco and fast food if it were available in the quality of those legal
products. The fact that marijuana is regulated at all is evidence that drug
enforcement is primarily driven by authoritarian and economic considerations.

Some of the most aggressive advocates of strict drug laws are police,
prosecutors and prison guards. The drug war provides significant job
opportunities for these taxpayer-funded employees. In addition to
destroying the lives of hundreds of thousands of drug users and their
families, the excessive presence of law enforcement leads to even greater
abuse of power than would be expected with more restrained and accountable
police and judicial systems.

As police officers, courts and prisons divert huge amounts of tax revenue
from medical care and education, the greatest threat to public health and
public safety may be local law enforcement itself.

Randy Gicker
Eugene