Pubdate: Fri, 03 Oct 2003 Source: Daily Herald-Tribune, The (CN AB) Copyright: 2003 The Daily Herald-Tribune Contact: http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/804 Author: Chris Buors IT'S ABOUT RESPONSIBILITY Manuela Campbell (letter, Sept. 30) can be guaranteed gang-like activity will follow crystal meth into Grande Prairie. Enterprising ruffians are always quick to profit when the state enacts foolish prohibitions. Manuela needs a short lesson in the immutable laws of supply and demand. Any time a product is in high demand and black market profits are available, somebody will decide the risk is worth it. It sounds counterintuitive, but no amount of demonization has ever saved one single kid from drugs. Making drugs the forbidden fruit in fact has consequences. It works in inverse proportion; the worse you say the side effects are the sooner some kids want to give them a try. Kids know the government has lied about marijuana for over hundred years. Why would school children or anybody else believe them now? Perhaps, just perhaps, Manuela ought to think about the notion of responsibility. It goes hand in hand with liberty. Temptation is ever present and it is the duty of parents to teach their children how to deal with vice. Making all drugs legally available is the only way to stop amateurs from blowing up the neighborhood. When is the last time Grande Prairie residents had to worry some idiot blowing up the neighborhood with an alcohol still? "Educating" school children to embrace your particular worldview is called indoctrination. For instance, the notion of addiction is an indoctrinated cultural belief. There is no such thing as a supernatural force that compels people to act against their will. None of the chemicals on the periodic table have supernatural powers of allurement either. Belief in addiction is eerily similar to belief in voodoo when you look at the cold hard facts. Chris Buors Winnipeg Manitoba - --- MAP posted-by: Beth +++++++