Pubdate: Sun, 19 May 2002
Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB)
Copyright: 2002 The Calgary Sun
Contact:  http://www.fyicalgary.com/calsun.shtml
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/67
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n913/a01.html?1151
Author: Alan Randell
Note: Parenthetical remark provided by the Sun editor; headline provided by 
newshawk.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

Letter Of The Day

LET'S LEGALIZE ALL DRUGS

RE: EMS raving mad over trio of bad ecstasy trips, May 13

Lord save us from the relentless ignorance of the press. How many times are 
you going to report this story before you reveal the truth? Nearly all the 
harm done to users and non-users alike by illegal drugs is BECAUSE THE 
DRUGS ARE PROHIBITED.

Thousands were poisoned by adulterated booze during Prohibition. Thousands 
more are dying today because of adulterated drugs, an aspect of government 
policy my wife and I became well acquainted with when our 19-year-old son 
Peter died shortly after ingesting some street heroin in 1993. If that 
weren't bad enough, prohibition nurtures crime. Al Capone was created by 
Prohibition, not the other way around. Colombia's drug cartels would have 
not become as powerful as they are today if drugs had not been prohibited. 
The best way to reduce the harm and heartbreak of illegal drugs is to end 
drug prohibition. Let's legalize all drugs, remove the propaganda and the 
police from the equation, have the drugs manufactured by knowledgeable, 
competent organizations who will supply cheap, quality tested drugs of 
known purity and potency and who, in order to avoid legal liability, will 
impart factual drug information to us and our children.

There is one more issue to be dealt with. Prohibition clearly doesn't work, 
so why do governments persist in banning some drugs? The answer? To 
distract attention from more important issues by ruining the lives of an 
innocent minority while providing law enforcement agencies with bigger 
budgets (and free drugs). Hitler showed the way, our political leaders are 
merely following along in his path.

Alan Randell

(You cheapen your own argument when you compare this to Hitler.)
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