DRUG PROHIBITION FOSTERS CRIME

Re: Justice Minister Rob Nicholson's Wednesday letter. It is a
popular misconception
that "illicit drugs fuel organized crime and foster petty crime."
Some so-called
drug-related crime is aggravated by the disinhibiting effects of
drugs. For example,
alcohol is implicated in half of all homicides. However, most illicit
drugs are not
criminogenic. With no recourse to the law, drug gangs settle their
disputes with
violence. Vendors of legally regulated drugs, like alcohol, tobacco
and coffee, settle
their disputes in court. The stated intent, to fight crime, is
laudable, but experience
and research tells us that it is drug prohibition, not drugs per se,
that fosters
organized and petty crime.

Matthew M. Elrod

(Booze is, historically, the worst drug of all.)