READERS URGE FORWARD-THINKING SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS OF DRUG ABUSE

Re: Free drugs will lure addicts to B.C., RCMP chief warns, May 2

The more addicts lured to safe injection heroin maintenance sites,
the better. RCMP Chief Superintendent Derek Ogden seems to have
forgotten that the purpose of providing free heroin to addicts is to
treat them. According to a 2005 clinical study, heroin maintenance
programs in the Netherlands and Switzerland have proven to be equally
effective as methadone treatments for addicts seeking rehabilitation
for the first time. Moreover such programs had a 60-per-cent success
rate for those who fail methadone treatments.

Ogden's assumption that drug use increases with legalization has been
proven wrong by case studies such as the Netherlands where drug use
decreased after legalization.

Canadian governments could also tax drugs the way they tax alcohol
and tobacco, an opportunity they forfeit when drugs remain
prohibited. These profits could generate immense tax revenues to
support our aching health-care system.

Eric Rumi

President of Canada's Students for Sensible Drug Policy

McGill University, Montreal