TOO MANY LIVES AT STAKE

IT might be tempting to admire the zeal of Mark Le Grand's crusade
against heroin if there were not so many lives at stake (Inside Mail,
July 8). His astonishing assertion that 1000 deaths annually from
heroin overdoses do "not represent a failure of regulation" might seem
heartless until one realises that, for those wedded to prohibition,
there may be no limit to the tolerable social cost of enforcing
current policies.

Le Grand says it's a myth that enforcement inflates the price of
drugs, encourages contamination, maintains criminal activity and
engenders official corruption.

I challenge him to prove this or even explain how it could possibly be
the case. His belief is not shared by most people in law
enforcement.

The trialling of safe injecting rooms does not mean giving heroin to
anyone who wants it but Le Grand disingenuously fails to draw the
distinction.

Michael Callanan,
Toowong