INACTION ON HEROIN IS THE REAL OBSCENITY

The heart-rending article "A mother's lesson in the heroin economy (Herald,
October 5) should have been featured before Saturday's election. It would
have highlighted the impotence of all parties and revealed their paucity of
ideas in addressing what has become the most damaging and vexatious societal
problem of the late 20th century.

Continuing down the prohibition/criminal law enforcement road can only lead
to an increase in the illegitimate trade, already the second most lucrative
business in the world after the arms trade, and of course, it's tax exempt
and safe from a GST.

Anything generating that amount of trade ought to be able to generate the
resources to deal with the problems that trade creates. Not a single
political party came up with a workable solution to change the status quo.

John Howard denied the opportunity for a breakthrough when he opposed a
scientifically based heroin trial similar to the Swiss model.

To do nothing further, just continue as before, constitutes a far greater
obscenity than anything that has been going on in the White House recently,
as Monday's article so painfully and poignantly revealed.

Deirdre Kidd, October 8 Frenchs Forest.

Checked-by: Don Beck