BETTER TO GIVE ADDICTS HEROIN FOR FREE THAN TO LOCK THEM UP

In response to letter writer Lucy Ryan's view on free heroin for
addicts, her "addiction" to triathlons is pleasant and not something
that would lead her to forfeit her life to get her next fix. The price
of illegal drugs is inflated to such a high level that users often
resort to prostitution and theft to buy them. Jailing someone for a
year costs approximately $70,000, while giving them free heroin costs
around $7,500.

Giving them free heroin severs the link with organized crime and
destroys their profits.

Add in the health-care costs from misuse, HIV or hepatitis infection,
policing costs and I'm pretty sure free heroin is a better use of our
drug-war tax dollars.

Methadone, heroin and Diluadid (an opiate derivative) are proven ways
to bring addicted people back to society and to reduce harm and costs.

Would you rather pay a high price to throw addicts in jail, fund ever
increasing police, jail and health-care budgets or pay a lower cost to
help turn these people back into productive tax-paying members of society?

Mike Foster,

Laval, Que.