I find it quite disturbing that, what was once a problem unique to
California has become a problem in Canadian neighborhoods (Crack house
nailed shut as Parkdale neighbors cheer, Sept. 12).

It seems appropriate at this time to consider the U.S. response to crack
cocaine and how it has failed to rid U.S. neighborhoods of crack houses.

This may also be a good time to consider the Dutch approach of "harm
reduction", that for the last 20 years has caused a steady decline in
drug use, drug related AIDS and drug related crime. The Dutch have even
witnessed a decline in the use of the tolerated "soft drug", cannabis.

Though I can understand why "neighbors cheer", it bothers me that an
onlooker would shout, "Look for someplace else to flop". Is this a war
on drugs, a war on drug addiction or a war on drug addicts?

Closing crack houses is like chasing prostitutes from one neighborhood
to another. We treat the symptom without considering the cause.

As part of the World Health Organization's 19 country Cocaine Project, a
team from Simon Fraser University submitted a report entitled, A century
of cocaine use in Canada, in which they wrote, "'Canada's relentless
pursuit of universal abstinence from cocaine, which has required
inflicting harsh law-enforcement practices and incessant propaganda on
the population for decades, has been mistaken, harmful and at times
absurd".

We are all victims of our absurd drug policy. My little sister, a
single mother, is addicted to cocaine. We have some control over
tobacco. We have more control over alcohol. We have yet more control
over Prozac. Why don't we have any control over illicit drugs?

Matthew M. Elrod
Victoria, B.C.