FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF SWITZERLAND

To the editor:

The Monitor is exactly right in condemning drug prohibition as a "futile
effort to save people from themselves" ("Bad Combination," Jan. 2), but it
is worth mentioning that any genuine "social problems" associated with drug
use and drug addiction are quite small compared to the damage being done by
a lunatic drug crusade.

Proof that drugs do not cause major societal disruptions comes from the
Swiss Heroin Maintenance Program where there was not one single heroin
overdose death among 856 case-hardened addicts in a three-year period.
Compare that with the hundreds of drug prohibition-caused deaths in Texas
every year.

Moreover, there were only three new HIV infections, four hepatitis B
infections and five hepatitis C infections during the study (in a total of
11 people) among the 856 Swiss addicts. Compare the Swiss HIV/AIDS
infection rate with Edinburg and the rest of Texas where over 30 percent of
all new HIV/AIDS cases occur among injection-drug users. Cause of death:
Prohibition-mandated dirty needles!

Criminal activity among Swiss addicts in the program (856 for 3 years) went
down 60 percent in the first few months and eventually dropped 90 percent.

Social integration of participants in the heroin maintenance program
rapidly improved (in particular, there were no longer any homeless) and
fitness for work improved considerably. Permanent employment more than
doubled (from 14 percent to 32 percent), and the number of unemployed fell
by more than a half (from 44 percent to 20 percent) — the remainder lived
on benefits or irregular employment. A third of patients who, on admission,
were dependent on welfare required no further support. (See: Programme for
a Medical Prescription of Narcotics: Final Report of the Research
Representatives: http://www.lindesmith.org/library/swiss_ index.html)

Swiss drug policy demonstrates the utter insanity underlying America's drug
war.

Redford Givens,

San Francisco, Calif.

A SOCIAL PROBLEM, NOT A CRIMINAL ONE

To the editor:

It seems Hugh Kelley is opposed to drug legalization ("Legalization won't
work," Jan. 3). Unfortunately, his reasons for this position are so twisted
and distorted one really has to wonder what his true motivation is.

I haven't heard of any "financial controls" that can stop a suitcase of
money from going anywhere. Secondly, to admit in one sentence that
legalization would reduce the crime rate and unnecessary prison
overcrowding by non-violent offenders, and in that very same sentence say
crime would go up, is incoherent gibberish. And what does legalizing
murder, rape and robbery have to do with the price of tea in China? Who
ever said anything about that?

We as freedom-loving people want to live in a society that Thomas Jefferson
envisioned: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness! No one said
anything about allowing violent crimes against other people. That is wrong
and everyone knows it. But how I pursue my happiness in my own home is none
of Mr. Kelley's damn business.

To associate the evils of alcohol with legalizing other drugs is faulty
logic. Just as society has begun to finally crack down on the guilty people
who abuse alcohol -- and not those who enjoy in moderation -- so too must
there be a way to punish those who infringe on the liberty of others and
leave everyone else alone. I don't hear Mr. Kelley calling for a ban on
alcohol.

Drugs are a social problem. If the premium paid for drugs due to their
illegality was removed, people would not have to resort to crime to feed
their habit. It is time we acknowledge human nature and accept that people
are going to desire to change their state of mind, and no one can do
anything about it. It's about moderation and control — not prohibition.

John Savard,

Boulder, Colo.

SHOCKINGLY STRAIGHT TALK ON DRUG WAR

To the editor:

Your Jan. 2 editorial, "Bad Combination," was shockingly straight talk on a
subject that is not used to getting that treatment.

Mr. Novak's faulty conclusion that the drug war and war on terrorism should
be tied together only makes sense if you close one eye and cock your head
to the side.

Obviously, if it were not for the inflated drug prices caused by the war on
drugs, terrorists would not have this easy source of cash.

David A. Hawes,

Old River, Texas

PROHIBITION STILL IS NOT WORKING

To the editor:

I am responding to Hugh Kelley's letter, "Legalization won't work" (Jan.
3). When alcohol prohibition ended in 1933, the crime rate declined
substantially. For 10 consecutive years the murder rate declined.

Prohibition of recreational drugs isn't working, except to provide full
employment for those doing the prohibiting.

Because of drug prohibition, drug buyers are buying drugs of unknown
quality, unknown purity and unknown potency. This is not unlike the
"bathtub gin" of the alcohol prohibition era that resulted in needless
deaths and blindings.

Kirk Muse,

Vancouver, Wash.