FROM 1952: LEGALIZE DRUGS

A recent report by a committee of inquiry in Vancouver shows how the
thinking of medical men and psychiatrists on the problem of drug
addiction is changing. In this respect we seem to be catching up in
Canada with the remedies long since adopted in Britain and parts of
Europe.

Here we imprison the addict and the seller of drugs, if we can catch
them.

The Europeans also imprison the seller but in many places they leave
the addict free and allow him drugs, if he insists on having them,
under strict regulation.

When an addict can secure drugs on a doctor's prescription he does not
have to deal with the dope rings. They cannot compete with the drug
store because all the huge profits of an illegal traffic disappear.

Just as the bootlegging industry was largely destroyed by the repeal
of prohibition so it is argued the illegal drug business has been
greatly reduced in countries where the use of drugs is not a legal
crime.

The Vancouver investigators think that Canada should face up to the
real facts of the traffic and allow addicts to secure drugs legally.

Victoria Daily Times, Aug. 25, 1952