DECRIMINALIZING DRUGS WOULD REDUCE THEFT

Ray Gagner's letter to the editor attacked harm-reduction approaches to drug
policy reform as the "peddling of dangerous policies" (Star-Bulletin, Dec.
6). Ask yourself this: What is your priority? Is it more important to keep
drug addicts from getting their hands on drugs, or to keep them from getting
their hands on your property?

As much as 90 percent of the property crime in Hawaii is committed by
addicts stealing to obtain the funds to buy illegal drugs. A policy that
allowed addicts to register with the state and obtain drugs at low cost
would end our property crime problem. It will not cure addiction, but
neither has 90 years of criminalizing it.

Our drug policies cost billions. They put us at high risk of crime. They
have not improved the health of drug addicts. They have created and enriched
criminal empires, corrupted public officials and destabilized entire
countries. Our current system forces millions of people who do not use
illegal drugs to share the problems of the few who do. Why should we
continue to put up with this?

Tracy Ryan