ANSWER TO DRUG PROBLEM

Re your Feb. 27 editorial: "Crackdown on drugs by Vancouver police
deserves full support."

The "fact" that drug consumption is the lifeblood of organized crime
is due to the mistaken belief that prohibition is an effective way to stop it.

However, there is no more reason to believe that drug production and
trafficking will be stopped by increased enforcement than there is to
believe that drug use will be stopped by telling youth to "just say no."

It is time for governments to give up the war rhetoric and instead
adopt proven public health measures to regulate, tax and control
currently illegal drugs.

Gillian Maxwell,

Chair,

Keeping the Door Open: Dialogues on Drug Use