'OUTSIDERS' HAVE SAY IN DRUG POLICY

To the editor:

Joe Chaput wrote ("Outsider glib about drug problems," Letters, Aug. 14) to
disparage a letter of mine wherein I chided the Courier for failing to
mention that prostitutes and drug dealing on the street only happens
because the government prohibits prostitution and drugs. Mr. Chaput feels I
was "glib" about these problems because I don't live in the area.

My 19-year-old son died in 1993 from the effects of street heroin and,
since that awful day, my wife and I have been working hard to persuade the
public and the politicians that drug prohibition causes more problems than
if the drugs were legal. Peter died in Burnaby, across the water from our
home. Why the hell would I feel glib about the harm inflicted by
prohibition on ANY neighbourhood?

But forget all that. Why is a comment from outside your community out of
line? How does Mr. Chaput know that readers from other areas do not have
the best interests of your community at heart?

Alan Randell, Victoria