Pubdate: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2002 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Shannon Meek THE DEGRADATION OF HUMAN LIFE In the grim speculation about the fates of Vancouver's missing daughters, sisters and mothers, let us reconsider the benefits of current drug legislation. The inflated prices of the illegal drug trade finance war and oppression abroad, drive an untaxed, unregulated economy at home and force sick and desperate sex workers into business with even sicker sex consumers. We should arm ourselves with preventive resources, treat addiction as a medical issue and then drop the bottom out of the black market. Legalizing drugs will not eliminate the world's evils, and as long as there is prostitution, there will also be bad dates. However, whether in Colombia, Afghanistan or the Downtown Eastside, our drug policies contribute criminally to the degradation of human life -- and to the potential for horror imagined at the gates of one decrepit pig farm. Shannon Meek Victoria - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom