OTHER WAYS TO FIGHT ILLEGAL DRUGS

To The Editor,

Regarding Gwynne Dyer's thoughtful Sept. 18th column, Afghanistan
profits from the opium trade because of drug prohibition, not in
spite of it. Attempts to limit supply while demand remains constant
only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive
drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts
to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war
doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime. Heroin produced in Afghanistan
is primarily consumed in Europe, a continent already experimenting
with harm reduction alternatives to the drug war. Switzerland's
heroin maintenance trials have been shown to reduce drug-related
disease, death, and crime among chronic users.

Addicts would not be sharing needles if not for zero tolerance laws
that restrict access to clean syringes, nor would they be committing
crimes if not for artificially inflated black market prices.
Providing addicts with standardized doses in a clinical setting
eliminates many of the problems associated with illicit heroin use.
Heroin maintenance pilot projects are underway in Canada, Germany,
Spain and the Netherlands. If expanded, prescription heroin
maintenance would deprive organized crime of a core client base. This
would render illegal heroin trafficking unprofitable and spare future
generations addiction. Putting public health before politics may send
the wrong message to children, but I like to think the children are
more important than the message.

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, DC