DRUG HOUSE A FALSE ACCUSATION?

Dear Editor:

Last week's front page feature, "Problems with drug house " has raised
my ire. I'm certainly not one to go to bat for folks who are rowdy all
night, and I understand if you don't want to hear fowl language while
meditating on the garden swing.

I'm reassured to read that police in Castlegar do not have all the
power we think they do. Down in the states, police can seize your
property if you are being merely accused of a drug crime. In one
instance a couple in their 80's permanently lost their home because
their grandson had marijuana. Lives have been ruined, children have
been taken from their parents because of the US drug war. Pretty soon
American military will find reasons to come up here. We must guard our
civil rights and our sovereignty.

Legalizing drugs, says economist Milton Friedman, reduces crime and
raises the quality of law enforcement. Most Canadians know this.
Regulated sale of drugs would help keep them from minors. If we knew
which drugs were really good, we'd never reach for any that were
scarier than transfats. Maybe we wouldn't try the devil's weed, if we
were enlightened. What if our parents said, "Just say no " and pointed
to www.erowid?

The writer of the well-written article may not be responsible for the
header which goes; "Problems with drugs house still exist despite
bust." Someone's home is labelled a 'drug house' when there is
apparently no substantial evidence for that.

If you didn't have any drugs, how would you feel when your home is
called a 'drug house' on the front page of the paper? Everyone who
reads the paper will think the worst of you or the worst of drugs. The
Castlegar News should call if for what it is: the neighbour's
behaviour is lacking some class.

Barbara Murdoch,

Castlegar, B.C.