DRUG LAW MISSES REAL TARGETS

In response to your editorial, critics of the government's anti-drug
strategy have not "blindly missed" proposed mandatory minimum
sentences. Nor are mandatory minimums the "central thrust" of the
$21.6 million allocated to law enforcement. The constitutional
challenges alone will cost more than that.

In 2001, the auditor-general reported the federal government spends
almost half-a-billion dollars annually on drug control, with about 95
per cent allocated to law enforcement.

In contrast to harm reduction, about which Prime Minister Stephen
Harper remains skeptical, there are no quantifiable objectives of law
enforcement, evidence that objectives are being met or even a
mechanism in place to gather such evidence.

The proposed drug war surge doesn't aim at parasitic crack and speed
dealers. It broadly targets "drug culture" and all the so-called
controlled drugs and substances, including cannabis and khat. Under
current law, passing around a joint at a party is trafficking.

The government groups those involved with illicit drugs into two
categories; victims and victimizers. Many are both, but the vast
majority is neither.

Matthew Elrod, Victoria