A HAWK AND A DOVE IN THE WAR ON DRUGS

As a parent of four adult children and a former bank manager,
corporate lawyer and chamber of commerce president, I do not use
consciousness-altering drugs myself, except for the occasional Scotch
whisky. But even the most basic cost/benefit analysis on the war on
drugs shows that it is a sham.

First, there is the cost. A very large part of the budget of the
police, coast guard, customs, prosecutors, judges, jails and parole
officers directly relates to the fact that drugs are illegal, not to
the harm of the drugs themselves.

Because drug users, particularly addicts, are forced underground,
they are precluded from medical treatment, leading to the spread of
AIDS and hepatitis to the whole community. Drugs that cannot be
obtained legally are being used to enslave prostitutes.

The respect for the rule of law has long since been compromised, as a
huge number of young people have experimented with marijuana. They
now see the law banning this substance as irrelevant.

So what benefits have been derived from the war on drugs? It has
undoubtedly stopped a few people from becoming problem drug users,
but based on European experience, not a lot.

Is that benefit to a few worth the costs? The war on drugs, almost by
definition, is a losing one. The whole premise behind the war is that
it is a supply-side problem -- namely, if one gets rid of the supply
and the pushers, there wouldn't be a problem. But the drug industry
exists because of demand -- people want the drugs. As long as that is
the case, someone will supply that demand. The more it is made
illegal, the more profit there is for the supplier.

If we moved even a small percentage of the costs of this war into
regulation, treatment and education, we might actually do some good
for our youth and our addicted users, and in turn benefit us all.
Just look at what has happened with cigarettes, through education and taxation.

Our law, health, tax base and domestic and international security
depend on our taking a new approach.

Ian C. MacLeod

Richmond, B.C.