PROHIBITING DRUGS DOESN'T WORK

Dear Editor:

Re: Drug house campaign paying off, April 5 edition of the Penticton Western.

Why do governments prohibit certain drugs? Is it to protect users from harm?

That can't be the reason because users suffer more - adulterated drugs and
jail time - when a drug is banned as compared to when it is legally available.

My wife and I became well acquainted with this aspect of government policy
when we lost our 19-year-old son to street heroin in 1993. Many more people
died from the effects of bad booze during Prohibition than when alcohol was
legally available. The harm argument is moot in any event because two of
our more dangerous drugs - alcohol and tobacco - are legal.

Is it to reduce the crime associated with illegal drugs?

No, that can't be the reason because banning a drug always gives rise to
more crime - drug cartels, petty crimes by users as prohibition makes drug
prices much higher, violent disputes between dealers - than when the drug
is legally available. Is it a bid to distract and entertain the majority by
conducting a brutal, Hitler-like program to distract and entertain the
majority by ruining the lives of the innocent minority who ingest or sell
certain drugs?

Bingo!

Alan Randell, Victoria, B.C.