LEGALIZE DRUGS TO REDUCE THEIR HARM

Your Aug. 10 article ("State's drug war changing") contains a pretty
good clue about how to reduce the harm of illegal drugs. Consider this
paragraph: "Moonshine whiskey produced in the state ran the gamut from
the finest sipping whiskey to rotgut brews that left customers sick or
dead from lead poisoning. The advent of legal liquor and beer in the
state proved the death knell of the vast majority of illegal stills in
the state beginning in the early 1970s."

So let's legalize drugs and allow users to purchase clean, cheap,
quality tested drugs at the corner store as tobacco users do today.

Alan Randell

Victoria, B.C., Canada