PM CULPABLE ON DRUGS

MR HOWARD tells us of the agonies of his position: "There are good
arguments on both sides of the injecting room debate but a prime
minister could not sit on the fence on the issue" (CT, December 16,
p.2). To his credit, he has listened to parents who have urged with
their whole being solutions that he finds personally repugnant.

But he is boxed in only because he chooses to be. If he believes that
an injection room would "give a new dimension of sanction to" drug
use, the way forward is clear: become informed.

Whether an injection room will encourage the uptake and greater use of
drugs is just as testable as whether such strategies will save lives
and reduce the spread of disease. A leader who uses lack of
information to reject a measure when credible scientific evidence is
obtainable whether from here or overseas is not a figure of Greek tragedy.

He is culpable.

W. M. BUSH
Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform Turner