Pubdate: Wed, 08 Jun 2005 Source: Saanich News (CN BC) Contact: http://www.saanichnews.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1209 Author: Arthur Ooms LEGALIZATION NO ANSWER In your "Letters" section (Saanich News, May 11), you printed a letter written by Alan Randell of Saanich titled "Eliminate the need for meth." I disagree strongly with the writer on the following: 1. In his opening remarks, Mr. Randell asserts that a number of people appear to be lying about the adverse effects of other illegal drugs. This statement is absurd! If this were true, how is it that studies of drug consumption all over the world have resulted in the same findings: hopeless addiction, escalating crime and corruption including murder, abstract poverty, and in many cases death of the user. 2. His suggestion that to legalize hard and soft drugs would benefit society as a whole, by reducing the costs of healthcare and policing as well as the monetary cost of the substances, is equally half-baked. Various approaches to curb illicit drug use were tried in The Netherlands for several years in the 1970s, including a more liberated approach to procurement and use. Aside from being able to estimate the number of actual drug users (their numbers appearing to escalate daily while this program was in effect), studies concluded with essentially the same results: increased addiction when drugs were made available at lower costs, increased crime and poverty, a health system becoming overwhelmed in coping with chronic drug users coupled with tremendous costs to society. There were no "benefits." This "experiment" was a dismal failure! I find Mr. Randell's reasoning regarding proliferation and use of these harmful substances difficult to understand. I believe a more aggressive approach to educating society on the harmful effects of drug use is needed. Also, drug importation and its production at home needs to be dealt with much more aggressively. Legalizing use and/or production is not the answer. Arthur Ooms, Saanich - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom