BETTER WAYS THAN DRUG WAR

Regarding your recent editorial on the border issue, there is a
middle ground between drug prohibition and blanket legalization.

Switzerland's heroin maintenance program has been shown to reduce
disease, death and crime among chronic users. Providing addicts with
standardized doses in a clinical setting eliminates many of the
problems associated with illicit heroin use.

The success of the Swiss program has inspired heroin maintenance
pilot projects in Canada, Germany, Spain, Denmark and the
Netherlands. If expanded, prescription heroin maintenance would
deprive organized crime of a core client base. This would render
illegal heroin trafficking unprofitable and spare future generations addiction.

Marijuana should be taxed and regulated like alcohol, only without
the ubiquitous advertising. Separating the hard and soft drug markets
is critical. As long as organized crime controls marijuana
distribution, consumers will come into contact with sellers of
addictive drugs like cocaine. This gateway is a direct result of
marijuana prohibition. Drug policy reform may send the wrong message
to children, but I like to think the children are more important than
the message.

Robert Sharpe

Policy analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy