DRUGS: LAWS DO NOT DETER USE

Dear Editor,

Letter writer Frank G. Sterle, Jr. claims that taxing and regulating the
sale of
marijuana to adults would lead to increased use [Drugs: Legalization Around the
Corner, Feb 16, Langley Advance News].

There is no evidence whatsoever that tough drug laws actually deter
use. Consider the experience of Canada's southern neighbour, the
former land of the free and current record-holder in citizens
incarcerated.

The steady rise in police searches on public transit, drug-sniffing
dogs in schools, and the drug testing of bodily fluids in the U.S.
have led to a significant loss of privacy, while failing miserably at
preventing drug use. Based on findings that criminal records do more
harm than marijuana, a majority of European Union countries have
decriminalized pot.

Despite draconian penalties and perhaps because of forbidden fruit
appeal, lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the U.S. than any
European country. Canada should Just Say No to the American
Inquisition.

Robert Sharpe,
Drug Policy Alliance,
Washington, DC

DRUGS: CONCLUSIONS MISGUIDED

Dear Editor,

Frank Sterle Jr.'s letter [Drugs: Legalization Around the Corner, Feb 16,
Langley
Advance News] was filled with misguided conclusions.

He warns that legalizing marijuana will be disastrous, leading to increased
consumption, especially among youth.

The research he cites is contrary to and inconsistent with the
findings of numerous large, widely accepted studies. First he states
there was a "great increase in alcohol abuse following the abolishment
of alcohol prohibition." According to the Bureau of Prohibition
Statistics (1930) just the opposite was true. During prohibition,
alcohol consumption first decreased slightly, but then increased to a
level exceeding the level of consumption before and after prohibition.
In addition, violent crime, and death and injury resulting from
consuming contaminated "moonshine," increased during
prohibition.

To make matters worse, the police resources became thinly stretched
due to the huge number of people being arrested and jailed for alcohol
consumption, the government lost substantial revenue from alcohol tax,
and the enormous black market profits brought unprecedented wealth and
influence to mobsters.

Sterle asserts that a permissive attitude toward cannabis use would result
in increased use among youths.

The evidence, however, shows that if cannabis were regulated it would
actually be more difficult for underage kids to obtain the drug,
because there would be virtually no black market to buy the drugs
from. Right now it is easier for kids to buy marijuana and other, more
harmful drugs such as heroin, than it is to buy alcohol.

Merchants are pretty strict in enforcing the laws, but drug dealers do
not care if the buyer is 16 or 86. Sterle does not realize that, when
kids go to the black market to purchase marijuana, they are being
exposed to and sometimes offered dangerous drugs like heroin and cocaine.

With the black market put out of business, kids would not have the
exposure to hard drugs that they do now.

People who want to use cannabis now, can do so, and no amount of law
enforcement has been able to keep cannabis out of the hands of those
who seek it. Strict drug laws have created more damage to individuals,
families, and society than the drugs themselves. This is the concept
behind "Harm Reduction," and there has been a lot of evidence to show
that harm reduction policies work better than policies that focus on
enforcement and punishment. In European countries such as Holland,
where treatment is emphasized and small amounts of drugs have been
decriminalized, there is a lower rate of drug use among youth, less
non-violent people incarcerated, and overall better health and fewer
deaths resulting from drug use. Why do we not want to recognize the
obvious?

Current U.S. drug policy is a failure, resulting in higher levels of
drug use, a prospering black market, and the erosion of our civil rights.

Hopefully, one day we will look back at the "War on Drugs" and
acknowledge the barbaric, inhumane, immature, and misguided beliefs
responsible for U.S. drug policy, as well as the unjustified and
unnecessary human suffering that ensued.

Ann A. Gottesman,
Van Nuys,
California

DRUGS: NOBLE EXPERIMENT FAILED

Dear Editor,

Mr. Sterle [Drugs: Legalization Around the Corner, Feb 16 Letters to the
Editor,
Langley Advance News] points out the benefits of Prohibition in Canada and the
United States without mentioning that this "noble experiment" lasted only
about a
decade, and was ended due to the extravagant profits made by gangsters and
terrorists dealing in a black market product that has been in consistently high
demand since Biblical times.

He bases his assertion that marijuana use will rise on his own
self-reported "pothead" youth.

As a current (moderate) boozer, I know that I am glad that at no point
now or since I became an adult and began drinking could the police
kick in my door, arrest me, and take away my property simply because I
induged in an after-work highball in my house.

Brett Ginsburg,
Atlanta, Georgia