YOU report (issue :356) that the control of Ecstasy and amphetamines has
become Europe's most urgent drug problem. I would have thought that the
major problem is the total lack of any control over the entire illegal drug
market. The example of the United States during alcohol prohibition and
the present-day explosion in illegal drug use, despite decades of anti-drug
crusades, have shown us that attempts at repression not only do not work,
but make the problem far worse.

By allowing drugs to remain illegal and under the control old criminal
gangs we are placing them beyond the control of society and the problem
will forever remain insoluble. Control of drugs will only be achieved by
legalisation and regulation, as is the case with the already legal drugs
alcohol and tobacco.

Patrick Michiels
Brighton, England