A LOOK AT THE DRUG WAR

This is a letter in response to the recent article "The horrors of heroin."

Anybody who believes the war on drugs is being won should look at the local
headlines. Heroin is now cheaper than marijuana even though it is
incredibly more dangerous. We do need more education and more treatment.
But ask yourself why is it that, while the drug war has been going on for
decades and the budget grown exponentially, we have ever more young people
dying of heroin in our neighborhoods? The answer is simple: the war on
drugs has escalated drug use and production.

Harm reduction, cannabis decriminalization and the Dutch model of drug
management have been beaten on tirelessly by our government and "moral
crusaders." These people have statistics and arguments for keeping the drug
war in place. To see they are wrong just look around you and ask your kids
about drug use among their peers. Take a look at production, corruption and
crime in Afghanistan, Mexico and Columbia. If drugs are complicit with
terrorism it is because they are underground and very profitable. It has
been estimated that it is $400 to $500 billion a year industry generating
huge untaxed profits. Drug lords do not want the drug war to end! One of
the biggest government programs doesn't want it to end either. Look at
opiate use throughout history and overseas in more progressive countries
and you will see there is less counter culture glamour and less fatality.

Our jails are filled with drug offenders. We need to educate young people
about the dangers of drugs. But if teens know that marijuana is not so
dangerous, how can we get through to them about heroin if we equate the
two? The gateway model just creates a reverse psychology. We need more
treatment programs but what we need most is a more sensible approach to the
drug problem. Addicts should see doctors, not prison bars. People using
drugs should feel safe calling paramedics - blaming doctors for patient
privacy misses the entire point. Locking up low level dealers for life
doesn't work. Law enforcement does a heroic job but sadly it does not fix
the overall problem. Supply and demand do not change and marketing by
criminals just becomes more vile and effective. I've learned two lessons in
my life the hard way: avoid drugs and don't support the drug war.

Tim Kuhn

Argilla Road