DRUG USE HARDLY A 'MORAL' ISSUE

Susan Martinuk connects the relaxing of drug laws to a decline in public
morality.

I must admit, the connection between drug use and morality escapes me.

Where is the connection? How is drug use immoral?

Martinuk does not have the right to lecture anyone on what is moral and
what is not. The war on drugs is an affront to our civil liberties,
allowing the state, the police and ignorant individuals to judge our
private lives based on their personal opinions and perceptions.

Martinuk ends her tirade by asking, "Are our laws true expressions of what
our society views as what is right and wrong, moral and immoral? That is
the real question." Well, here's the answer -- no, they are not.

Laws are put into place to protect us from violence and injustice (or
that's the way it's supposed to be), and this is why society is looking at
the current drug laws and finally realizing they are failing us in that
respect.

These laws are not protecting us from harm. They are eroding our civil
rights and placing a good many people on the fringes of society where they
cannot even ask for help for fear of reprisal from law- enforcement officials.

It is not the place of the state to judge us morally, since morals are a
matter of individual opinion. And may I remind Martinuk it is not her
place, either.

Kristy Ambrose
Vancouver