MANAGING DRUGS

Freedom to use drugs is not the hallmark of a progressive society, as A.C.
Grayling (Comment, last week) seems to think. The small number of people
who 'manage' their drug use are the least of our worries. It is much more
important for the media to promote greater understanding of addiction.

Ultimately, treatment is the solution, whether drugs are legal or illegal.
Addiction means people want more. A cheap and available addictive commodity
will be used more widely. It will also create its own black market. There
is little sympathy for the addict, and that may undermine the will of
policymakers to put real money into effective treatment.We can't legislate
to prohibit addiction. The civil liberties argument is for the freedom to
die of addiction, which is a different argument entirely.

Peter Martin

Chief Executive, Addaction, London