THE LESSONS OF HISTORY

Prof. Ehor Boyanowsky's argument for legalization of drugs ("Violent
Valentine's Days -- there and here, then and now," Issues & Ideas,
Feb. 18) is based on conjecture and emotions, not facts. The Canadian
Centre on Substance Abuse's last estimate of the total social cost of
tobacco, alcohol and illegal drug use was $39.8 billion. Sixty-one
per cent of those costs are in lost productivity, while 22 per cent
are direct health care costs. Only 5.4 per cent are direct law
enforcement costs. Tobacco accounts for $17 billion, alcohol for
$14.6 billion and illegal drugs for $8.2 billion of social costs.
However, the Canadian Medical Association and Statistics Canada
estimate that regular users of illegal drugs are less than five per
cent of the total population, while 44 per cent of the population use
alcohol at least once a week. If less than five per cent of the
population is responsible for 20.7 per cent of the social cost of
substance abuse, that means the risk ratio is greater than 400 per cent.

None of this is good. Substance abuse costs each Canadian about
$1,266 a year. Illegal drugs account for $262, alcohol for $463 and
tobacco for $541. Why would a person in authority argue for the
legalization of another potentially dangerous substance with high
social costs? Boyanowsky cites the 1929 Valentine's Day Massacre that
killed seven people, including one "innocent." The lesson of that
event was public outrage so great as to give the FBI sweeping powers
that eventually broke the gangs. The Surrey Six murders in Metro
Vancouver killed two uninvolved people. Vancouver Mayor Gregor
Robertson's response to the escalating gang war is a regional police
force with sweeping powers to break the gangs.

History does repeat itself.

Larry Robinson

White Rock