Pubdate: Thu, 22 Nov 2001
Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA)
Copyright: 2001 San Francisco Examiner
Contact:  http://www.examiner.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/389
Author: Chuck Beyer
Rerefereced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n1947/a05.html

THE SYSTEM KILLS ADDICTS

THE author of a letter, Desmond Call, says that addicts deserve misfortune 
because their disposition is a "matter of choice" ("Addicts deserve their 
lot," Examiner letters, Nov. 19).

I submit that the addict has been robbed of true choice by the very people 
who wash their hands of these deaths.

A true choice would involve legal abstinence and legal use.

The addict is also robbed of the choice of choosing a regulated product 
with an identifiable dosage. This causes most deaths. The choice of legal 
drugs also eliminates the involvement in property crimes and prostitution.

In this world all actions have unintended consequences. Prohibition is no 
exception. Quantum theory analogy dictates that even an observer has an 
effect on any system. Prohibitionists are no mere observers. Their policy 
is largely responsible for the genocide involving hard drug addiction.

Addicts never did have a true choice. Mouthing platitudes about personal 
choice does not absolve the prohibitionists of the critical role they play 
in the death of addicts.

Chuck Beyer
Victoria, British Columbia
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