USE LEGALIZATION TO CONTROL DRUGS

I am not encouraged by Justice Minister Gord Mackintosh's plan to go after
the Hells Angels and other gangs involved in the drug trade in Manitoba. His
intentions may be perfectly honourable, but his plan will fail.

The reason is very simple. The more we enforce against the commercialization
of illegal drugs, the higher we raise the value of that commercialization.
And for every despicable creature we take off the street, there will be 10
more greedy and immoral ones ready to take their place.

The solution is also very simple, the complete legalization of drugs. That's
right, if you want to crank heroin, simply go to a doctor and get a
prescription, head on down to the local pharmacy and get yourself some nice
sterile syringes, some clinically pure heroin, and go home and bang your
brains out.

There is no viable defence for this drug war. It does nothing to protect our
children. It is easier for a Grade 7 student in Winnipeg to get some drugs
in our schools than it is for them to steal alcohol from their parents'
liquor cabinet. LSD, cocaine, heroin, etc. are being offered to them at
every turn.

We can have our drug war if we want to, but it will only cost us millions of
tax dollars, expose our children to the worst kinds of scum, put untold
revenue into the hands of unscrupulous villains, and make victims out of
drug users, the saddest and sorriest people on Earth.

If we open our hearts and use our heads, we can stop this drug problem right
now, right here, real easy.

STEVE OETTING

Winnipeg