LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

I AM a former drug dealer on an international scale, importing and
exporting large quantities of cannabis. At present there is too much money
to be made out of it. People don't realise how large the business is.
Transactions of up to £10m are made each week.

Decriminalisation is not the answer. Cultivation would remain illegal. This
would keep the gear expensive, and benefit the dealer as it would push up
demand. The dealer would still be able to set the prices and reap the
profits.

The model to follow is the one in Canberra. As a dealer it would blow me
out of the water and deny me my marketplace. It permits each person to grow
two plants and possess half an ounce.

The only way to stop the problems of people going on to harder drugs is to
sever the link between them. We need a concerted educational campaign to
make dope become acceptable and normal, as it is for half the population
already. Society must change its attitudes.

Name withheld

I DO not understand why this government has decided to turn a blind eye to
the very people that elected them? Why are we being denied a referendum on
cannabis? I'm fed up with this new government, pretending they care. Show
you care and give us a chance to vote!

Andrea Gonçalves, Surrey

I THINK your campaign is a very positive effort and wish you all the best
with it, but regarding your arguments concerning drug law change I must
point you to the following facts. The United Kingdom (like about the rest
of the planet) is bound to something called the Single Convention on
Narcotic Drugs, 1961, and subsequent treaties. This restricts all
application of the substances involved (including cannabis) to "medical"
and "scientific". Now (especially for your efforts) it would possibly be
best that we try to achieve an interpretation of the word "medical" as
public health and not a removal of cannabis from the treaty.

I must point to the importance of this "wordgame" as, for example, your
government can now simply say they can't decriminalise because of the
treaty which allows no room for this.

Mario Lap, Drugtext Foundation

I WANT to thank you for your paper's effort to reform the marijuana laws.
As an attorney and elected official (US), I've seen firsthand the cruel
and unnecessary damage done by the "war on drug users". Indeed, like
alcohol prohibition (in the USA) before it, the socalled drug war has
caused more individual and societal harm than the abuse of drugs ever
could. In particular, it is most inhumane, illogical and fiscally wasteful
to imprison those who consume marijuana, when by every scientific and
anecdotal standard it is far less toxic and addictive than either alcohol
or tobacco.

The specious argument that marijuana use somehow leads to the use of harder
drugs (the "gateway theory") is especially troublesome. In Holland, where
marijuana use is not prosecuted, a lower percentage of young people use
marijuana than in other countries where its use is criminalised. In fact,
to the degree that there is any correlation between marijuana use and use
of harder drugs, it exists because marijuana users must now obtain their
marijuana from the same criminal element that provides the harder, more
dangerous drugs.

Everyone's goal should be to reduce the availability of drugs to our
children and the harm associated with substance abuse. Unfortunately, by
continuing to promote the failed policy of prohibition, the "drug warriors"
guarantee that that can't and won't happen.

Richard D Elrick, Cape Cod, USA

LAST month George Soros "announced that he was prepared to spend up to half
a billion dollars in Russia on philanthropic projects which will include
funds to fight the spread of tuberculosis..." ("Soros adds weight to the
cause", 7 December). George Soros should know that a Czechoslovak study in
1955 found that the only food that could successfully treat tuberculosis
was wait for it cannabis seeds!

J Henry Trumpington, London

I HAVE used cannabis for around 30 years. In the Seventies I was foolish
enough to get involved with heroin and cocaine. It was only through
cannabis that I was able to wean myself off these very dangerous drugs.

During my career as a plumber I was infected with hepatitis C. As a result
I now have chronic liver disease and am very ill. My wife has arthritis and
circulation problems, but we find great relief from pain and stress when we
smoke cannabis.

Dyfed police are fanatical in their approach to cannabis users and we have
been raided by the drug squad. If prosecuted we would be evicted from our
council house and so have resorted to prescribed medicine, with all its
sideeffects. We have three well balanced and educated teenage children
who show no interest in drugs of any form.

Name supplied

I BELIEVE that the nation's drug policy is a shambles, illconceived and
hypocritical. I appreciate the efforts that the IoS is currently making to
decriminalise cannabis.

Dr Will Goodall, Scotland