Pubdate: Fri, 20 Jul 2001 Source: Times, The (UK) Copyright: 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd Contact: http://www.the-times.co.uk/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/454 Author: Brian Worboys MARIJUANA RESEARCH GIVES DRUG 'SAFE BILL OF HEALTH' Sir, The greatest evil of illegal drugs is the volume of crime that is created by the need to finance the high prices caused by their very illegality. This converts the medical problem of a few into a scourge of the many. I am sure that it would be cheaper for the NHS to give drugs away to all who request them than for society to continue to pay the costs of drugs-associated crime. If the money saved by the police and law enforcement agencies were to be redirected to the NHS then the health service would have money left over to improve treatment for patients as a whole. Yours, BRIAN WORBOYS, 5 Butlers Close, Broomfield, Essex CM1 7BE. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake