DRUG WAR HURTS MORE THAN IT HELPS

Re: We mustn't stop fight on drugs, Feb. 13.

Why does the government prohibit certain drugs? Is it to protect users from
harm? No, that can't be the reason. 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. 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 for our police officers) by conducting a brutal, Hitler-like
program 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