DRUGS HELP FUEL ECONOMY

To the Editor,

Re: Work necessary to eliminate drugs, Jan. 8.

J. Sharpe writes that he thinks we need a clear explanation about
addiction services.

He is absolutely right about that, but we must dig very deeply to
defeat the drug problem.

Throwing yet another bureaucracy into the fray is only going to muddy
the waters even further.

The major problem is not the drugs themselves, but the money that they
generate.

The growers, manufacturers, distributors, dealers, policing agencies,
medical personnel, social workers, and politicians all profit and have
a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.

While politicians pat themselves on the back and pose as great
do-gooders, the new addiction services agency will do diddley squat.

Should a cure for cancer be discovered tomorrow, the government would
have to suppress it, as it would shut down a multi-billion dollar a
year industry throwing a couple of hundred thousand people out of work.

Perhaps we need to stay addicted and keep getting cancer if only for
the sake of the economy.

Alan MacKinnon

Nanaimo