DRUGS BAN MISINFORMATION

I of course welcome The Examiner's giving space in its letter column for
anyone to express their own personal opinions, even if they support the
continued prohibition of drugs, as Mairead Scannell clearly does in her
letter published on November 20, 1999.

Is it asking too much however, that when a claim is made which can be
easily verified, that you do so? In her letter Mairead wrote of "13,000
technical studies on cannabis" held by the University of Mississippi "which
showed that young people who were regular users developed head and neck
cancers".

This claim has been made before and you may like to know that no such vast
library exists, and I invite The Examiner to contact the university to
confirm that fact for yourselves.

This is just one more example of the supporters of prohibition spreading
lies and misinformation to support their cause. It's understandable really,
it's all they have. The drug war is the cause of most of the drug related
problems we see around us, isn't it time we asked some awkward questions?

Derek Williams,
21, Pembroke Road,
Norwich,
Norfolk,
NR2 3HD,
England