AMERICAN OFFERS US DRUG ADVICE

To the editor:

"Law-abiding" citizens like letter writer Ian Forsyth are indeed
responsible for the crimes carried out by addicts-turned-criminals, since
these law-abiding citizens abide unjust laws and do not bother to think
about the causes of the crimes they suffer ("Law-abiding citizens not to
blame for junkies' life choices," Letters, Dec. 22).

In this case, prohibition of heroin is the true crime. A legally available
source of heroin for addicts would reduce the price of heroin, which is the
immediate cause of the crime carried out by addicts who must buy heroin on
the black market in order to avoid its withdrawal symptoms. A drop in the
heroin price to about 1/30th of its current black market price would
eliminate the need for addicts to commit crimes.

Of course, creating a legal supply of heroin for addicts would require
law-abiding citizens to recognize that addiction itself is not a crime, but
a human condition. As for poor lifestyle choices, is Canadian society as a
whole making a good lifestyle choice by creating a crime where none exists,
thus encouraging the creation of a police state?

David George

Bellingham, Washington