CONSENSUS NEEDED ON OBJECTIVES OF RECREATIONAL DRUG POLICY

The Kathryn Johnston situation should make us all ask exactly what is
the goal of the "war on drugs"? If the goal is to prevent people from
taking recreational drugs, it hasn't worked. If the goal is to reduce
crime, it has been a miserable failure. Rather, it has created an
underworld similar to the one that existed in the days of Al Capone.
If recreational drugs were made legal, how many current non-users
would become users? Virtually none.

Most people in federal prison are incarcerated on drug-related
charges. The costs of the entire system, from law enforcement to the
courts to prisons, is staggering. Of course, some people like it that
way and pay politicians to keep it that way.

Drugs are a real problem. We need to reach a consensus on the
objectives of recreational drug policy, determine the most efficient
means of achieving the objectives and then implement the means. I
believe we should seek a solution that keeps non-drug users as safe or
safer than the current system, offers rehabilitation to users who want
help and costs less than the current system.

Allen Buckley

Smyrna