DRUG REGULATION, NOT PROHIBITION, IS THE ANSWER

The article "Losing a war: heroin more plentiful, cheaper, purer than ever"
(Herald, March 7) tells only one side of the illicit-drugs story.

Since research for the Bureau of Criminal Intelligence report was
conducted, the situation has changed dramatically. Wildly fluctuating
supplies and quality have meant that the whole of Australia is in the grip
of a heroin "drought". This simply serves to highlight how little impact
the current law enforcement approach has on the supply of heroin.

And far from being a good thing, the drought has led to extreme levels of
desperation. Higher prices for poorer-quality drugs means more crime and
more violence. When the supply returns, heroin-related overdose rates will
be higher than ever before.

The drought has also highlighted the chronic shortage of treatment places
in Australia. Surely it is time to expand the methadone and other treatment
programs and begin trial heroin programs.

The "war on drugs" has not worked. Regulation, not prohibition, of heroin
is the way to permanently break the global black market in heroin and its
consequences.

Annie Madden, Australian IV League, Sydney, March 7.