RE: THE increase in methamphetamine use among Edmonton youth. Meth is the
latest drug to make headlines, but it won't be the last. Drug policies
designed to protect children have given rise to a youth-oriented black market.

Illegal drug dealers don't ID for age, but they do push addictive drugs
like meth. The drug war fails miserably at its primary mandate, protecting
children from drugs.

There are cost-effective alternatives. In Europe the Netherlands has
successfully reduced overall drug use by replacing marijuana prohibition
with regulation. Separating the hard and soft drug markets and establishing
age controls for marijuana has proven more effective than zero tolerance.

Compared to toxic alcohol, marijuana is relatively harmless. The plant has
never been shown to cause an overdose death. Marijuana prohibition,
however, is deadly. As the most popular illicit drug, marijuana provides
the black market contacts that introduce users to hard drugs. This gateway
is the direct result of a fundamentally flawed policy.

Canadian tax dollars are being wasted on failed policies that encourage
organized crime to needlessly expose children to dangerous drugs. Drug
policy reform may send the wrong message to children, but I like to think
children are more important than the message. Opportunistic "tough on
drugs" politicians would, no doubt, disagree.

Robert Sharpe

(Any substance abuse is bad, which means the current drug laws will likely
be re-examined someday.)