PROBLEM WITH DRUGS IS PROHIBITION

To the editor:

I am 56 years old and have never used drugs, yet I could find most
any recreational drug I cared to try before the day was out, right
here in Kelowna.

Which pretty much sums up the problem-whatever we have been trying to
achieve with the prohibition of drugs during my lifetime has failed
miserably, and look at the cost to society.

It seems almost daily we see a report of another drug related
shooting in Vancouver. Some 25,000 people murdered in Mexico in the
past three years alone, bodies being found piled up hundreds deep in
disused mine shafts.

As if to send a message to the other gangs, these people are now
tortured and then either beheaded or hanged.

The police chief for one area of Mexico has just been arrested for
his involvement with the drug trade, with hundreds of other officers
suspected of aiding the gangs for cash kickbacks; 72 bodies found on
a ranch and 10 per cent of the Mexican police force sacked due to
their involvement in the drug trade.

We are spending billions of dollars each year to combat the problem
yet the police will freely admit they stop only a small proportion of
drugs hitting the market. The people they do catch are generally the
foot soldiers with the top people being far too clever to be directly
linked to the trade.

I heard recently that the number of prisoners being held is up 45 per
cent in the past 10 years, at enormous expense to the taxpayer. Yet,
it would appear to make no difference to the drug trade as its
numbers are increasing too.

In the U.S. 90 per cent of prisoners are being held for drug
offences, with more college-age African-Americans in jail than there
are in college. Many lives are being ruined before they even really
begin as many of these kids are destined for a life of crime with
their jail time merely training them to be better criminals.

It was recently reported that the war on drugs had exactly the
opposite effect to that intended. Where the police are tough on drugs
it pushes the price up, this in turn makes it more attractive to
organized crime as they now make bigger profits.

I saw a news clip recently of Richard Nixon in 1970 speaking about
the "war on drugs." Forty years later and what can we honestly say we
have achieved? We have turned addicts into criminals, when it would
be far cheaper to treat their disease. We have managed to make a
product that is worth a dollar, which then sells for $10 because it
is illegal; we then have items worth $100 being stolen and sold for
$10 to cover the cost of the drug-devaluation of 99 per cent right there.

It really is time we considered other options. Decriminalizing drugs
may mean more people try them; on the other hand it may make them
less attractive as they are now freely available.

It will allow addicts to get the treatment they so badly need. Petty
crime should surely be reduced as drugs would be freely available,
organized crime would have to look for other sources of revenue as
this avenue would be closed. Sending people to prison has not worked,
drugs are a big problem in jails themselves-another example of how
badly our current methods are failing the taxpayer. Freeing up jail
space will save us a fortune, with each prisoner costing over
$100,000 per annum to house. Freeing them and putting them on benefit
would be cheaper.

Prohibition of alcohol did not work, all the warnings issued
regarding smoking seem to have little effect and "just say no" hasn't
had any discernible affect on the drug trade.

The ex-president of Mexico recently came out in favour of legalizing
drugs whilst the chief superintendant of the Greater Manchester Force
(an area of 10 million people) also stated legalization was the only
option as policing the problem has not worked.

Our tax dollars are being wasted at a time when we have a huge
problem with funding our other social systems-time for change?

A.J. Horan,

Kelowna