MORE HOME OFFICE ADVICE TO CLUB OWNERS

Sir,

The Home Office's new guidelines for club drugs like ecstasy will
undoubtedly save lives. In addition to providing consumers with practical
advice on reducing drug-related harm, dance clubs should be allowed to test
pills for purity. So-called ecstasy overdoses are invariably the result of
deadly toxins sold as ecstasy.

While the UK adopts a public health approach, the culture wars are heating
up in America. President Bush is now pushing "compassionate coercion".

This expansion of zero tolerance does not distinguish between occasional
drug use and chronic abuse. Jail sentences and open-ended drug testing will
be applied exclusively to users of non-traditional drugs like cannabis.

Unlike alcohol, cannabis has never been shown to cause an overdose death,
nor does it share the addictive properties of nicotine. However, cannabis
represents Sixties counterculture to misguided reactionaries intent on
imposing their version of morality.

The Home Office is to be commended for putting public health before politics.

Sincerely,

ROBERT SHARPE

(Program Officer, Drug Policy Alliance)

Washington, DC 20008-2328.