REGULATION WOULD HELP REDUCE CRIME, VIOLENCE

As a law enforcement officer, I would like to extend kudos to County
Executive Joel Giambra for his brave acknowledgment that society's
"same old, same old" approach to drug violence is not working.
Although it is true that legalizing drugs would not eliminate
addiction, or the type of crime visited upon Sister Karen Klimczak, it
would definitely lessen the frequency of them.

A more reasonable model of substance control other than outright
prohibition could usher in honest education about drug use/abuse -
something that is more realistic to the type of person who would kill
a nun for her cell phone. Something that goes beyond the limited
policy of "just say no to drugs." Under regulation, there could be
licensed points of sale, age limits and guaranteed product safety by
taking the manufacture and distribution of narcotics out of the hands
of untrained and unscrupulous criminals and place it within the realm
of professionals. Products could be subject to taxation. Terrorist
gangs (here and abroad) would lose their major source of funding.

John A. Gayder

Founding Secretary

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

St. Catharines, Ont.