Pubdate: Wed, 02 Feb 2000 Date: 02/02/2000 Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) Author: William McNultry How can anyone who edits the editorial page of a newspaper be so naive? The war on drugs is over; we lost. Thirteen years after prohibition started, we shut it down. It was a mistake. We acknowledged that and did the right thing. You want to save lives and money? Legalize all drugs. We could double the treatment budget to $6 billion, increase the anti-drug-use ad campaign budget to $2 billion and still have $10 billion a year left over. Given access to pure heroin, the overdose death rate would plummet. It's not the heroin that's killing these people; it's the illegality of heroin, which then allows an impure stepped-on product into the hands of the consumer. Since the actual amount of heroin in the end product is unknown, accidental overdoses occur. In England pure heroin was prescribed to addicts whereupon the addicts regained their health (because pure heroin has no ill effects on the body if used properly) and were able to earn a living. The English found that most addicts matured out of addiction after 10 years. Barry McCaffrey admits in the Parade section of this same paper that he would rather pursue prevention, treatment and education than a war on drugs. There is no reason these goals can't be continued after drugs are legalized. Methadone is even more addicting than heroin. If after using heroin for 10 years an addict decides to quit the withdrawal from heroin is easier than from Methadone. It just seems logical to me to let the addiction run its course, give the addict heroin and counseling and when he is ready to quit then help him. During this time the addict could work and pay for everything. Far cheaper than the proposed Methadone clinics. See Chapter 9 of the book "Drug Crazy" by Mike Gray. William McNultry, Seattle Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n143/a01.html http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n133/a09.html Cited: Mike Gray's "Drug Crazy": http://www.drugsense.org/crazy.htm