LEGALIZE ALL DRUGS

RE "HIGH school heroin bust shocking," Sept. 22:

Your readers should know that Canada's 1973 LeDain Commission concluded,
"There appears to be little permanent physiological damage from chronic use
of pure opiate narcotics."

Nearly all the harm done to users and non-users alike by illegal drugs is
because the drugs are prohibited. Thousands were poisoned by adulterated
booze during Prohibition. Thousands more are dying today because of
adulterated drugs, an aspect of government policy my wife and I became well
acquainted with when our 19-year-old son, Peter, died shortly after
ingesting some street heroin in 1993.

The best way to reduce the harm and heartbreak of illegal drugs is to end
drug prohibition. Let's legalize all drugs, remove the propaganda and the
police from the equation and have the drugs manufactured by knowledgeable,
competent organizations who will supply cheap, quality tested drugs of
known purity and potency and who, in order to avoid legal liability, will
impart factual drug information to us and our children.

Alan and Eleanor Randell

Victoria, B.C.

(Our condolences, but we just can't accept that legal heroin would be good
for anyone)