DRUG USERS ARE DENIED THE LEGAL PROTECTION

Sir, - An uneasy feeling gripped me on reading Kevin Myers's Irishman's
Diary of June 7th. This is not unusual, I hasten to add. It is a given.
Always. The man annoys me. I usually avoid his self-deluding, overly
obsessive diatribes in the same way that I try to sidestep "eccentrics" with
conspiracy theories painted on their lunch-boards. However, the particular
uneasiness I experienced last week was in acknowledging that every word he
had written on the subject of drug wars and the sale of heroin was
reasonable and logical.

The fact that drug users are denied the legal protection afforded to other
consumers is a source of shame for any nation aspiring to the basic tenets
of civilisation. I agree with every word Kevin Myers said. Is there "rehab"
for this affliction, do you think? - Yours, etc.,

Brian Hollywood,
Malone Avenue
Belfast 9.