ANTI-DRUG HYPOCRITES IGNORE ABUSE OF ALCOHOL

Dear Editor:

The horrendous deaths by freezing of two young children in
Saskatchewan recently while their caregiver was drunk shows once
again the hypocrisy of the anti-drug crusaders.

If this man had been on any other drug from pot to heroin there would
now be a massive campaign to attack drug use and criminalize even the
most mild use of any banned substance. The anti-drug crusaders would
be beating their self-righteous chests demanding massive police and
court actions against all and sundry drug users and dealers. Yet this
crowd of ill-informed extremists are nowhere to be found. Why?
Because the drug involved is alcohol: the drug of choice of police,
court personnel, legislators and the persecuting class of anti-drug crusaders.

The drug alcohol is several times more destructive than all the other
drugs available in society -- responsible for many more deaths each
year than all the illegal drugs combined, not to mention the deaths
by violence, neglect and drunk drivers.

The special status given to this most insidious of all drugs
continues because of the legal imbalance that allows this dangerous
substance to remain exempt from its true classification. The sad
truth is that the current nature of anti-drug legislation, if
successful, would ultimately lead to the drug alcohol being the only
drug available for both users and abusers with an even more socially
cataclysmic outcome for all. It's time the alcohol-using legislators,
police and court personnel woke up to their own hypocrisy and saw
that they too are users and abusers.

Lawrence Hearn

North Vancouver