DEPRIVE ORGANIZED CRIME OF CLIENTS

Regarding Scott Taylor's Nov. 1 column, Afghanistan profits from the
opium trade because of drug prohibition, not in spite of it. Attempts
to limit supply while demand remains constant only increase the
profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a
spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal
activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime,
it fuels crime. Heroin produced in Afghanistan is primarily consumed
in Europe, a continent already experimenting with harm reduction
alternatives to the drug war. Switzerland's heroin maintenance trials
have been shown to reduce drug-related disease, death, and crime
among chronic users.

Addicts would not be sharing needles if not for zero tolerance laws
that restrict access to clean syringes, nor would they be committing
crimes if not for artificially inflated black market prices.
Providing addicts with standardized doses in a clinical setting
eliminates many of the problems associated with illicit heroin use.
Heroin maintenance pilot projects are underway in Canada, 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. Putting public health before politics may send
the wrong message to children, but I like to think the children are
more important than the message.

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington