NAZI-LIKE BAN ON DRUGS IS CALCULATED

Regarding "DEA czar hears pleas for help," Feb. 19: Why does the government
prohibit certain drugs?

Is it to protect users from harm? No, that can't be the reason, because
users suffer more (adulterated drugs and jail time) when a drug is banned
as compared to when it is legally available, and besides, the most
dangerous drugs of all - alcohol and tobacco - are legal.

Is it to reduce the crime associated with illegal drugs? No, that can't be
the reason, because banning a drug always gives rise to more crime (drug
cartels, petty thefts by users as prohibition makes drug prices much
higher, violent disputes between dealers) than when the drug is legally
available.

Is it to distract our attention from more important issues (and to provide
bigger budgets and free drugs for our police officers) by conducting a
brutal, Hitler-like pogram against the innocent few who ingest or sell
certain drugs?

Bingo!

Hitler's armies may have lost the war but, sadly, his ideas seem to have
found ready acceptance all across the "civilized" world.

ALAN RANDELL, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada