Pubdate: Tue, 16 Apr 2002 Source: High Point Enterprise (NC) Copyright: 2002 High Point (N.C.) Enterprise Contact: http://www.hpe.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/576 Author: Clifford A. Schaffer Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n598/a10.html (March 29 Letter) Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n647/a07.html (April 1 Letter) Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n708/a12.html (April 12 Letter) WRITER AVOIDS DRUG FACTS Arthur Lyon suggested that we should shoot all drug dealers (Letter Box, March 29). In response (April 1), I asked him a couple of simple questions: 1) How many people are currently killed by drugs? 2) How many people should we kill to solve the problem? I asked these questions so we could determine whether his proposal would kill more people than the problem we are trying to solve. I then stated that people who make this suggestion never know enough about the subject to answer basic factual questions. In response to my letter, Lyon says that he has decades of experience working with alcoholics and drug addicts and rants about the damage caused by drugs (April 12). Of course, there is no question that drugs cause damage to both individuals and society, and Lyon certainly should be congratulated for a career of helping others. But that wasn't the issue. The issue was whether Lyon can answer basic factual questions about the subject - enough to determine whether his plan is a good idea. He apparently can't. I want to thank Lyon for demonstrating my point - the people who make these extreme proposals have never read any of the most basic research on the subject and can't answer basic factual questions. If he is actually interested in the answers to those questions, he can find a wealth of information on the subject at http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer. The collection there includes the full text of nearly every major study of drug laws over the last 100 years. CLIFFORD A. SCHAFFER Canyon Country, Calif. - --- MAP posted-by: Ariel