LINK BETWEEN BAN ON DRUGS AND THEIR ABUSE

YOUTH AFFAIRS Minister Willie O'Dea ought to study the situation in the US
before suggesting shoot-from-the-hip solutions. The incarceration rate and
drug use by children are both disgracefully high.

In fact, looking at the severity of drug prohibition versus the level of
youth drug abuse across a spectrum of nations, we can see that the two are
directly, not inversely, related.

The same thing happened in the US during alcohol prohibition in the 1920s:
drinking invaded the schools, just as drug prohibition is now causing drugs
to be used by children. But the data is there to prove the case. I suggest
the Minister read the Drug Policy Libraries website at www.druglibrary.org
and change his tune, for the good of the children if not for his own
credibility.

Peter Webster, International Journal of Drug Policy, Le Sienne, 37, Avenue
Mont Joli, 06110 Le Cannet, France. vignes@monaco.mc