DRUG-LEGALIZATION LOBBY WRONG TO USE MOUNTIE'S DEATH TO ADVANCE CAUSE

Re: "N.W.T Mountie's slaying even more reason to legalize drugs" by
Alan Randell and "Senseless waste of life," by George Kosinski,
Letters, Oct. 30.

Reading these letters instantly upset me. Both Randell's and
Kosinski's arguments are weak and ultimately quite self-centred.

The audacity to imply that Const. Christopher Worden was murdered
because drugs are illegal is unfathomable to me, not to mention the
fact that both men took it a step further by suggesting that he would
not have died if drugs were legal.

Kosinksi's proposal to treat drug addiction as a medical problem and
not a crime is also preposterous. Would he also suggest that
producing, transporting and trafficking are "medical problems?"

What I find especially ridiculous is Randell's comment regarding his
son's death. Randell stated his son did not die because of his use of
drugs, but rather "like Const. Christopher Worden, he was a victim of
drug prohibition."

Legalizing drugs will not solve anything. If drugs were legalized,
there would still be users who could not pay their dealers; there
would continue to be overdoses, accidents and deaths from the use of
drugs. There would continue to be other related illegal activities,
crime and trouble caused by people who are high. Police officers
would continue to be called to protect the community from actions
related to drug use; and families would continue to be torn apart
because -- and this is really the bottom line -- someone wanted to get high.

Drugs change the way the brain functions. People who are high are
operating with an altered brain. This is not, and will never be, safe
for the user or for the public affected by the user's actions while on drugs.

Const. Worden responded to a suicide call. In attempting to save
someone else's life, he lost his own. His family lost a brother, a
son, a husband, and a father because of the actions of some coward.
We, as a country, lost one of the good ones.

How dare Randell and Kosinski use Const. Worden's death in an attempt
to further their cause.

They should be ashamed of themselves.

Tasha Hilderman,

Lloydminster