OVERDOSES, CRIME WOULD DECLINE

Your article, "Heroin retains tight grip on Oregon as deaths rise"
(Feb.1) was right on target in identifying the principle cause of
overdoses. Because heroin is sold via an unregulated black market, its
quality and purity fluctuate tremendously. An addict accustomed to
low-quality heroin who unknowingly uses near pure heroin will likely
overdose.

The abundance of heroin overdoses and high incidence of HIV among
addicts are a direct result of drug prohibition, as is the crime
associated with the drug trade.

America's experience with alcohol prohibition proves that the violence
associated with an unregulated market can be easily eliminated by
lifting prohibition. Liquor producers no longer kill each other in
turf battles and alcoholics no longer go blind from drinking bathtub
gin.

Likewise, addicts would not be committing crimes to support their
habits if no for the artificially inflated price of heroin.

Am I suggesting that heroin be legalized and sold in convenience
stores? Contrary to what zero-tolerance proponents would have
Americans believe, there is a middle ground between all-out
legalization and drug prohibition.

By registering heroin addicts and providing them with standardized
doses in a treatment setting, the public health problems associated
with heroin use could very well be eliminated. More important,
organized crime would lose its client base.

Robert Sharpe
Students for a Sensible Drug Policy