DRUG LAW REFORM NEEDED

Gwynne Dyer's Jan. 15th column was right on target.

There is a middle ground between drug prohibition and blanket
legalization. Switzerland's heroin maintenance program has been shown
to reduce disease, death and crime among chronic users. Providing
addicts with standardized doses in a clinical setting eliminates many
of the problems associated with heroin use. Heroin maintenance pilot
projects are underway in Canada, England, Germany, Spain and the
Netherlands. If expanded, prescription heroin maintenance would
deprive organized crime of a core client base. This would render
illegal heroin trafficking unprofitable and spare future generations addiction.

Marijuana should be taxed and regulated like alcohol, only without
the ubiquitous advertising. Separating the hard and soft drug markets
is critical. As long as marijuana distribution remains in the hands
of organized crime, consumers of the most popular illicit drug will
continue to come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like
cocaine. Given that marijuana is arguably safer than legal alcohol,
it makes no sense to waste scarce resources on failed policies that
fi nance organized crime and facilitate the use of hard drugs. Drug
policy reform may send the wrong message to children, but I like to
think the children are more important than the message.

For information on the efficacy of heroin maintenance please read the
following British Medical Journal report:
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/327/7410/310

To learn more about heroin maintenance research in Canada please
visit: http://www.naomistudy.ca/

Robert Sharpe, MPA Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, DC