TREAD CAREFULLY OVER NEEDLES

Re: "Needle drop-boxes a valuable step," July 9.

Our government leaders extol the practices of Holland, Denmark and
northern German cities such as Hamburg, where drug-taking is
tolerated and in some cases, along with prostitution, legalized. What
they don't tell you is that at street level, these tolerant methods
don't work. These countries still have a huge drug problem and
problems with prostitution, AIDS and related crime, in spite of their
needle exchange and safe injection site programs.

The only places in the world where drugs are not a huge problem are
in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. These
countries have a mandatory death penalty for drug trafficking, and
they enact it! They have made the consequences of drug trafficking so
severe that it just doesn't happen, at least down to the street
level. This is in contrast to their neighbours such as Thailand, who
have more liberal policies regarding drugs, and do have drug-related problems.

So if there is political will, the drug traffic trade can be stopped.
It defies logic to me that our politicians would encourage a system
that doesn't work, over one that has demonstrable success! If we have
a problem, we should look at the full range of practices and choose
one that works, not just those that are easily politically enactable,
and have proven not to be effective, and let the people decide.

In the meantime, watch where you put your feet!

John Hickson,

Cobble Hill