DRUG POLICY REFORM BY OUR READERS

Re "Prohibition makes no sense" (Froma Harrop column, Dec.
4):

Yes, there is a middle ground between drug prohibition and blanket
legalization. Switzerland's heroin maintenance program has been shown
to reduce disease, death and crime among chronic users. The success of
the Swiss heroin maintenance program has inspired pilot programs in
Canada, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands. If expanded, prescription
heroin maintenance would deprive organized crime of a core client
base. This would render illegal heroin trafficking unprofitable and
spare future generations addiction.

Marijuana should be taxed and regulated like alcohol, only without the
ubiquitous advertising. Separating the hard and soft drug markets is
critical. As long as marijuana distribution is controlled by organized
crime, consumers of the most popular illicit drug will continue to
come into contact with sellers of addictive drugs like cocaine and
heroin.

This "gateway" is a direct result of marijuana prohibition. Drug
policy reform may send the wrong message to children, but I like to
think the children are more important than the message.

Robert Sharpe, Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C