CURTAILING DRUGS WILL FUEL CRIME

Dear Editor:

Tom Fletcher makes the common mistake of confusing drug-related crime
with prohibition-related crime in his Oct. 11 column. Attempts to
limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only
increase the profitability of drug trafficking.

For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads
addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The
drug war doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime.

The good news is that Canada has already adopted many of the common
sense harm reduction interventions first pioneered in Europe. The bad
news is that Canada's southern neighbor continues to use its
superpower status to export a dangerous moral crusade around the globe.

The United States provides tragic examples of anti-drug strategies
that are best avoided.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control researchers estimate that 57 percent
of AIDS cases among women and 36 percent of overall AIDS cases in the
U.S. are linked to injection drug use or sex with partners who inject
drugs. This easily preventable public health crisis is a direct
result of zero tolerance laws that restrict access to clean syringes.
Can Canada afford to emulate the harm maximization approach of the
former land of the free and current record holder in citizens incarcerated?

Robert Sharpe, MPA, Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy
Washington, D.C.