WAR ON DRUGS NO ANSWER

Thank you for the editorial, Insite's proven benefits ignored in
political fray (SP, April 25). The safe injection site operates in
Vancouver with the support of local and provincial governments, but is
under continual assault by the federal Conservatives.

Insite has kept operating only through repeated victories in the
courts - victories based on clear evidence that it saves lives and
reduces drug use.

While some people foolishly believe that harsh measures are the only
way to deal with the drugs we have made illegal, that approach has
been tried in many places and had led only to more drug use, crime,
death.

Over the decades-long drug war, drug use rates have risen while drug
costs have fallen and drug purity has risen.

We are in the midst of an inquisition run by fanatics who believe that
drugs can be eliminated and drug users saved if only we can make their
world painful enough. There is simply no evidence to support this
belief. How many more people must die, spend their lives in prison, or
be corrupted and destroyed in the drug underworld before we bring this
insanity to an end?

Legalization and regulation is the answer.

Ken Sailor

Saskatoon