DRUG CRACKDOWN LONG OVERDUE

Re: "Maybe hillbilly heroin is a good thing," Aug. 4.

Specious economic arguments and arguments from authority, such as the
alleged Swiss experiment with "free heroin," that are devoid of dates
and follow-up information are not worth the paper they are written
on. Contrary arguments are just as easily made.

For example, the Netherlands is reportedly growing weary of the image
of being the cesspool of the world with open drug use and
prostitution and is looking for ways to clamp down their open vices.
Free heroin and needle exchanges do nothing to discourage drug use
any more than handing out money to panhandlers encourages them take
responsibility for themselves and get a life. On the contrary, it
condones and perpetuates drug use and dependency on the rest of
society for free handouts. Witness the recent attack on the a retired
doctor in Vancouver by a professional panhandler.

If you want to look at how other jurisdictions handle the problem,
consider Singapore. Do you hear anything about an open drug problem
there? Panhandling, prostitution? Why is it that the mainstream press
seems to always look for the most acquiescent examples they can find
that only speak to reducing the drug problem, rather than to a
jurisdiction where there is virtually no drug problem as a result of
societal norms and strict, uniform law enforcement.

Connor Whelan,

Ladysmith.