FIGHT CRIME BY LEGALIZING DRUGS

There is only one way to fight and to crush organized crime entirely:
legalize drugs (Gazette, Aug. 9, "Drug dealers as busy as ever"). Let the
government sell them at the Societe des Alcools du Quebec outlets like wine
and liquor. There will be some users who develop problems, but they should
be treated in hospitals, not in jail. Turn the drug trade into a regulated
business, tax it heavily and discourage it like we do cigarettes and
irresponsible drinking.

Most drug users are average, everyday people, not the deranged monsters
often portrayed by law-enforcement officials. We don't want to give our
money to the gangsters behind the drug trade. So, it is time Canada finally
took the only logical step to deprive criminals of their cash flow. It's
only common sense.

Inspector Serge Frenette, head of the Montreal Police organized-crime
division said in the article that "we will have to be very imaginative."
Since almost 100 years of increasingly racist, violent and repressive drug
laws haven't done anything to reduce either drug demand or supply, let's be
genuinely imaginative and repeal all our drug laws and replace them with
commercial legislation designed to legalize, control and discourage drug use.

P. Moulante

Montreal