DON'T ADD TO PEOPLE'S DESPERATION ABOUT DRUGS!

COL PARRETT blames harm minimisation for the drug problem (Letters,
September 2). I wish he'd produce his evidence.

Addictiveness and huge profits are more obvious reasons. Whatever the
case, the drug problem is now as bad as it is for one overriding
reason: drugs are so available. Our kids can get them from friends and
acquaintances at schools, in social settings and in the streets.
Cessation of harm minimisation in these circumstances is just about as
crazy as arguing for unpoliced and unregulated highways as a means of
reducing the road toll on the ground that the added danger of road
travel will discourage road use. There are four reasons why people may
oppose harm minimisation:

(a) They adhere to a contorted morality that places a higher value on
being drug free than on life itself; (b) They are ignorant. This is
understandable in the light of the misinformation that is around; (c)
They are dead scared of drugs on account of their family and security;
or (d) Harm minimisation is indeed a Trojan horse it threatens the drug
trade because it shows up the insanity of what we're doing.

Let's focus on how we might promote a no-drugs ideal. In the meantime,
don't add to the trials of desperate families and health workers by
blocking harm minimisation. The core problem is a political one. Like
the rest of us, politicians may be scared and initially ignorant but
there is this difference: they are morally obliged to inform
themselves.