WRONG WAY TO DEAL WITH DRUG ABUSE

I TOO am concerned that young people are able to obtaining "Dangerous
adulterated drugs" easier than cigarettes and alcohol

But is Witham mayor Tom Hewitt's call for "zero tolerance on drug dealers"
(Gazette, April 6) the right way to handle the problem?

We've had the "war on drugs" for 30 years and in that time the problems
surrounding illegal drugs have grown. We only need to look to the US (the
home of drug prohibition) and see the mess there.

Although Mr Hewitt's comments primarily concerned dealers in heroin, he
failed to take into account that cannabis is classified as a dangerous drug,
and a person buying for a small circle of friends or a sibling sharing a
joint with their disabled mum are, in law, dealers.

Should the police or Braintree Council be spending a huge amount of money
enforcing a regime regarded with contempt by a huge section of the
population?

If you think that the Government's inability to handle the consequences of
the existence and availability of cannabis is a matter of importance, please
ask your MP to support Labour MP Paul Flynn's forthcoming Bills on
decriminalising cannabis for therapeutic use and the possession of cannabis
for personal use.

Don Barnard, Legalise Cannabis Alliance, Braintree. Essex