DRUG PROFITS

Re "Bad news" (Letters to the editor, Dec. 9):

Switzerland used to have a very serious heroin addiction problem. Now
their heroin problem is a small fraction of what it used to be. Did
the Swiss government get really tough on drug dealers and addicts?
No.

In 1994, Switzerland started an experimental program to sell heroin
addicts the drug at very low cost, even giving it to the addicts who
couldn't afford it. In 2008, 68 percent of the Swiss voted to make the
program permanent. Have Swiss heroin-addiction rates skyrocketed? No,
they have fallen dramatically. So has their overall crime rate.

Will we adopt Switzerland's heroin policy? Probably not. Too many
people, industries and institutions have a vested financial interest
in maintaining the status quo of drug prohibition.

Kirk Muse
Mesa, Ariz.