DRUG IGNORANCE IS KILLING PEOPLE

Sir,

The reported increased in heroin-related deaths in Cyprus is cause for
alarm. Because heroin is sold via an unregulated illicit market, its
quality and purity fluctuate tremendously. A user accustomed to low-quality
heroin who unknowingly uses near pure heroin will likely overdose. The
inevitable tough-on-drugs response to overdose deaths is a very real threat
to public safety.

Attempts to limit the supply of drugs while demand remains constant only
increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like
heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase
criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight
crime, it fuels crime.

Switzerland's heroin maintenance trials have been shown to reduce
drug-related disease, death and crime among chronic users. Addicts would
not be sharing needles if not for zero-tolerance laws that restrict access
to clean syringes, nor would they be committing crimes if not for
artificially inflated black-market prices.

Providing chronic addicts with standardized doses in a clinical setting
eliminates many health and public safety problems associated with heroin
use. Heroin maintenance pilot projects are under way in Germany, Spain,
Canada and the Netherlands.

If expanded, prescription heroin maintenance would deprive organised crime
of a core client base. This would render illegal heroin trafficking
unprofitable and spare future generations addiction. Putting public health
before politics may send the wrong message to children, but I like to think
the children are more important than the message.

Robert Sharpe, MPA Policy Analyst,

Common Sense for Drug Policy, http://www.csdp.org, Washington