POT DECRIMINALIZATION - EVEN THOUGHT OF IT IS RISKY

THE EDITOR:

In his letter of June 5, Kirk Muse writes that "re-legalizing all our
illegal drugs would substantially reduce the crime rate and increase
public safety, reduce harm caused by our illegal drugs".

DEA from the U.S. reports; "We have made significant progress
fighting drug use and drug trafficking in America. Overall, drug use
is down more than a third in the last 20 years, cocaine use dropped
70 per cent, 95 per cent of Americans do not use drugs."

This is success.

In 1975, Alaska's Supreme Court held that under their state's
constitution, an adult could possess marijuana for personal
consumption in the home. The court's ruling became a green light for
marijuana use.

A 1988 University of Alaska survey showed that the state's teenagers
used marijuana at more than twice the national average for their age group.

The report also showed a frequency of marijuana use that suggested it
wasn't experimental, but a well-incorporated practice for teens.

Fed up with this dangerous experiment, Alaska's residents voted in
1990 to recriminalize possession of marijuana. But 15 years of
legalization left its mark-increased drug use by a generation of our youth.

DEA's view is "crime, violence and drug use go hand in hand. Six
times as many homicides are committed by people under the influence
of drugs as by those who are looking for money to buy drugs. Most
drug crimes aren't committed by people trying to pay for drugs;
they're committed by people on drugs."

Even the thought of decriminalization of marijuana is risky. To a
great many of our youth, decriminalization equates to legalization.

Eric Myrholm

Abbotsford