Choose life and say 'no' to drugs

This week marks the first anniversary of the death of Anthony
Campbell, a young plumber savagely murdered because he was a witness
to a gangland killing.

When Anthony Campbell left home that morning to fix a radiator he
wasn't presented with the choices of life or death that others have
been given.

Anthony Campbell didn't gamble with his life that morning, instead he
went to work. Anthony Campbell is a real innocent victim of Ireland's
drug culture.

As much as I have sympathy with the famous and not-so-famous young
people who have died as a result of their life choices, to call them
victims is to refuse to see the problem.

It's their choices that make the drug trade profitable.

Recently journalist Ian O'Doherty went on the 'Late Late Show' and
spouted his opinions about legalising cocaine. His disregard for law
and authority was sickening.

He claimed regulation is the answer to the drug problem.

He is wrong, you must be 18 to drink alcohol, yet kids as young as 12
are drinking in fields and parks.

Regulation would turn Dublin and Ireland into a drug tourism
destination.

The answer to the drug problem may actually lie in people making the
most of the choices given to them. Choose life. Anthony Campbell
didn't have that choice.

PATRICK THOMPSON

Dublin