AL CAPONE CREATED BY PROHIBITION

Editor:

Re: 'Ottawa gets data to tackle addiction issue' (The Guardian, May 6, 2002).

Lord save us from the relentless ignorance of the press.

The editorial states "Given the latest federal government information
confirming the link between addiction and crime, it's obvious where Ottawa
should be putting more resources - into stronger efforts at combatting drug
and alcohol dependency."

Well no. We should legalize drugs.

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 became well
acquainted with when our 19-year-old son, Peter, died shortly after
ingesting some street heroin in 1993.

If that weren't bad enough, prohibition nurtures crime. Al Capone was
created by Prohibition, not the other way around. Colombia's drug cartels
would have not become as powerful as they are today if drugs had not been
prohibited.

The best way to reduce the harm and heartbreak of illegal drugs is to abide
by the principles of the Bill of Rights and end drug prohibition. Let's
legalize all drugs, remove the propaganda and the police from the equation,
have the drugs manufactured by knowledgable, 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.

There is one more issue to be dealt with. Prohibition clearly doesn't work,
so why do governments persist in banning some drugs? The answer? To
distract attention from more important issues by ruining the lives of an
innocent minority while providing law enforcement agencies with bigger budgets.

Alan Randell

Victoria, B.C.