Pubdate: Wed, 08 Oct 2003 Source: Mitchell News-Journal (NC) Copyright: 2003 Mitchell News-Journal Contact: http://www.mitchellnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1777 Author: Alan Randell Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1457/a09.html Note: Title by Newshawk. METHAMPHETAMINE USE RISES IN THE AREA, SEP. 25. Dear Editor, I see that prohibition is working as well as it always has. 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 and 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. Drug prohibition encourages crime too, as was shown when Al Capone rose to power after alcohol was banned. Let us never forget also that drug prohibition is racist in origin. It began almost a century ago when the drugs used by certain non-white minorities (blacks, Chinese, Mexicans) were banned ostensibly to protect virtuous, white, Christian women from being seduced by these minorities. Today, the police are happy to make use of this racist legislation to control and harass those whose lifestyle and/or skin colour offends them. 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 and 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. Alan Randell Victoria, British Columbia, Canada - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk