BEWARE THE U.S. WAR ON DRUGS

Dear Editor:

In your editorial (Bring 'Em Home, April 25) you suggested Canada
could do more for Afghanistan's economy and defeat the Taliban if we
led a global fight to legalize the production of heroin and opium and
control their distribution.

Last year Afghanistan produced 90 per cent of the world's opium.
That's a pretty good market share. The Americans have a war on drugs.
It hasn't been successful, but they do spend billions on it and our
"fight" against it would definitely get their attention. They won't
invade us, but we would certainly risk a painful economic thrashing.
Just so Afghanistan can increase its opium production by 10 per cent?

Like most Canadians I am skeptical of our presence in Afghanistan,
but legalizing opium, if that were to bring out violence in the
elephant next door, does not strike me as a helpful solution.

Garrett Polman

West Vancouver