LEGALIZING DRUGS WILL STOP THE SPREAD OF CRIMINAL GANGS

Re: "The dangers of keeping pot illegal," editorial, Nov. 17.

Merely decriminalizing pot will fail to curtail the black market (some
users might grow their own, but most would not); only replacing it
with a legal market, regulated and licensed by government, will do
so.

Regarding "hard" drugs, it is a fallacy to match the allegedly severe
consequences of addiction (the most severe consequences are the result
of criminalization, not addiction itself) with the severity of the law
used to deal with it.

The correct test is effectiveness. Seventy years of criminalization
have failed; the black market, and the gangs that prosper from it,
have only flourished and expanded. It's time to apply civil law
instead. If addicts could be treated by their family doctors
(including maintenance prescriptions, as needed) the black market
would collapse, as would the incentive to get people hooked.

We need politicians with enough understanding and courage to legalize
all drug use, starting with marijuana, and followed by other drugs, as
the public learns how badly wounded the gangs are when their cash flow
drastically dwindles. Any other policy is de facto support for
organized crime.

Elizabeth Woods,

Victoria.