CRACKING DOWN ON DRUGS

Re: Safe Crack Kits Promote Drug Use, Sept. 2.

Does Stuart Murray of the Progressive Conservative party truly believe
that non-drug users are going to start smoking crack if safe crack
kits to prevent the spread of HIV become available? There is no need
to emulate the U.S. policy of maximizing harm. It won't impact rates
of use.

New York City chose the zero tolerance approach during the crack
epidemic of the Eighties. Meanwhile, Washington, D.C., mayor Marion
Barry was smoking crack and America's capital had the highest per
capita murder rate in the country. Yet crack use declined in both
cities simultaneously. The decline was not due to zero tolerance or
the passage of mandatory minimum sentencing laws.

Simply put, the younger generation saw firsthand what crack was doing
to their older brothers and sisters and decided that crack was bad
news. This is not to say that nothing can be done. Access to drug
treatment is critical for the current generation of crack users.

In order to protect future generations, Canadian policymakers need to
break with the U.S. government's reefer madness and tax and regulate
marijuana. As long as marijuana distribution remains in the hands of
organized crime, consumers will continue to come into contact with
hard drugs like crack. This "gateway" is the direct result of a
fundamentally flawed policy.

Robert Sharpe, policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy,
Washington, D.C.