LET'S NOT FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT WITH FAILED TACTICS

Peter Maresch seems to believe every tonne seized in the battle
against drugs is a tonne's worth of doses that did not find their way
into addicts' bodies. It is more likely that every tonne seized is
quickly replaced by another tonne released from the drug lords'
seemingly inexhaustible supply.

A replacement supply rushed on to the streets is likely to be of a
lower grade and/or more expensive, thereby inflicting even greater
physical and financial damage on addicts than the tonne seized.

Confronted with a choice between a grandchild openly taking drugs in a
government-managed program in which addicts' health and other needs
were professionally managed, and one secretly paying the inflated
prices for the questionable stuff flogged by unscrupulous street
vendors, I suspect even Mr Maresch would choose the former.

Of course, he is right to say we should not stop fighting good fights
just because we are losing but only a foolish commander would persist
with tactics that have always failed.

Glen Coulton

Marmong Point