IT'S ABOUT RESPONSIBILITY

Manuela Campbell (letter, Sept. 30) can be guaranteed gang-like activity
will follow crystal meth into Grande Prairie. Enterprising ruffians are
always quick to profit when the state enacts foolish prohibitions. Manuela
needs a short lesson in the immutable laws of supply and demand. Any time a
product is in high demand and black market profits are available, somebody
will decide the risk is worth it.

It sounds counterintuitive, but no amount of demonization has ever saved
one single kid from drugs. Making drugs the forbidden fruit in fact has
consequences. It works in inverse proportion; the worse you say the side
effects are the sooner some kids want to give them a try. Kids know the
government has lied about marijuana for over hundred years. Why would
school children or anybody else believe them now?

Perhaps, just perhaps, Manuela ought to think about the notion of
responsibility. It goes hand in hand with liberty. Temptation is ever
present and it is the duty of parents to teach their children how to deal
with vice. Making all drugs legally available is the only way to stop
amateurs from blowing up the neighborhood. When is the last time Grande
Prairie residents had to worry some idiot blowing up the neighborhood with
an alcohol still?

"Educating" school children to embrace your particular worldview is called
indoctrination.

For instance, the notion of addiction is an indoctrinated cultural belief.
There is no such thing as a supernatural force that compels people to act
against their will. None of the chemicals on the periodic table have
supernatural powers of allurement either. Belief in addiction is eerily
similar to belief in voodoo when you look at the cold hard facts.

Chris Buors

Winnipeg Manitoba