"We are going to kill you if you continue to give speeches on
legalizing heroin."

This was the Mafia threat telephoned to me in my Moana hotel room in
1952. I had delivered a series of talks about taking the profit out of
heroin to Kiwanis clubs in the Hawaiian Islands.

The media gave much coverage to the theory that continuing the illegal
status of addictive drugs would allow the crime syndicate (there was
only one Mafia then) to recruit vast numbers to use heroin.

There were only 10,000 addicts then in Canada, half of them in
Vancouver. Since 1952, the number of addicts has, as predicted,
ballooned. Even governments have been corrupted in the zealous greed
for greater and greater sales.

The good news is that there is likely to be a quantum shift. Hundreds
of public figures have demanded an end to the drug illegality that
creates the problem. Politicians can now safely vote to end this
corrupting prohibition without fear of losing their seats.

Ron MacIsaac,
Victoria