ANSWER IS REGULATION AND EDUCATION

RE: Letter writer Terry Vickerman "Father Angered By Approach Of Dealer"

I sympathize with Terry's problem. He might consider that if drugs of all
kinds were legalized and sold in a controlled and regulated market, his
child would have less chance of coming into contact with such creepy people.
Very seldom do people peddle alcohol or tobacco to kids outside of a
McDonald's, but with prohibition being such a huge farce, it is no surprise
that substances like cannabis, cocaine, heroin, and meth are sold tax-free
to anyone, with or without an ID.

"To offer a kid drugs is for all intents and purposes the same as
deliberately attempting to poison that child." If drugs were legalized and
we spent more money on educating kids about drugs, we would have less use,
less abuse, and much less harm. We trust kids not to eat household cleansers
from under the sink, because we educate them about it. The same would work
for any drug known to man.

The answer is to regulate, and educate, not humiliate and incarcerate. If
that were the answer, it would have worked by now.

Russell Barth

Ottawa