Pubdate: Sun, 24 Jun 2001
Source: Ogdensburg Journal/Advance News (NY)
Copyright: 2001 St. Lawrence County Newspapers Corp
Contact: Accepts LTEs by mail only!
Website: http://www.ogd.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/689
Author: Nicolas Eyle Executive director Reconsider: Forum on Drug Policy
NOTE: Accepts LTEs by mail only! Must be signed w/phone#
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01.n1090.a07.html

DRUG WAR

To the Editor;

Re: your editorial: "Drug Task Force" 6/19/01.

It is interesting that your consistently accuse those who have suggestions 
about better ways to handle drugs in America of wanting to poison our 
children, while, at the same time, you praise who continue to support a 
policy that has caused steady increases in drug use by our children since 
it's inception.

You also accuse critics of our failed policy of being supporters of the 
drug dealers when, with a moment's thought on the subject, it would be 
plain to any 12 year old that ending drug prohibition would put the drug 
dealers out of business overnight.

Thirty years ago, before America chose to embark on this disasterous 
policy, an adult would have been hard-pressed to find some cocaine or 
heroin in Ogdensburg. Today it's readily available in our schools. What a 
great job we're doing protecting our children.

Obviously we're doing such a great job at creating a "drug-free" country 
that we don't need to look around the world to see what our neighbors are 
doing about their drug problems, but if we did... We'd see that the 
Canadians to our north, the Mexicans, Colombians, Uruguayans, and others to 
our south, as well as the Dutch, Germans, Italians, Spanish, Portuguese, 
Swiss, Belgians, and most of industrialized Europe are all moving steadily 
toward de-criminalization and regulation of drugs. Do you think they are 
all in league with the drug dealers? Do you think they yearn for the crime 
rates we have in America? Perhaps, for some devilish reason we don't 
understand, they all want to poison their children? More likely however, 
they have seen what the war on drugs has done to America and want to 
actually protect their children.

Nicolas Eyle Executive director Reconsider: Forum on Drug Policy Syracuse, 
New York
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