'DEFINITION OF INSANITY'

Reading Craig Jones's Oct. 4 article, Gang wars -- the law is to
blame, prompts me to expand on his observation that gangs resort to
internecine violence to protect drug profits. While I completely agree
with him, the corollary is worth mentioning.

Drug-related criminal behaviour is a frequent motivator for armed
robbery, burglary and street muggings, committed by desperate addicts
seeking funds for their next fix.

The ludicrous response from authorities who call for more police and
harsher penalties is shown to be without any merit when one considers
that police states such as Singapore impose the death penalty for
possession of more than 15 grams of heroin, and yet still execute
about two dozen people a year for drug offences alone.

The government's tough-on-crime stance relating to drugs reminds me of
an Albert Einstein quote. The definition of insanity is doing the same
thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Michael Dowling

Winnipeg