'RESPONSIBLE' DRUG USE

If the public, as The Progress claims, deserves a more thought out
response to gang violence than Cannabis legalization, it certainly did
not provide it. (It's not the 1920s, Progress editorial, Feb.23.)

Gangs are legislated into existence. All prohibitions are more
destructive than the behaviors prohibitionists fraudulently profit
from.

Gangs make their money off our vices. Vices are not crimes. They're
natural behaviors that harm no one else or their property. Gang
violence comes from having no public dispute resolution mechanisms
(although corruption can find its way into any institution).

As for one vice in particular, every culture in history has
experimented with drugs. Nothing has ever stopped this and nothing can
stop drug use now. It's in our genes and those of a great many other
animals and birds. A falling down drunk elephant is quite a sight.

I suggest we encourage responsible drug use. Holland's tolerance
approach has succeeded, despite the efforts of prohibitionist
opposition. Removing taboos decreases people's curiosity while
demystifying their behavior.

If legalization, regulation, taxation and education are not the most
positive things we can do, would The Progress please pass along his
suggestion?

Bruce Codere