Pubdate: Fri, 28 May 2004 Source: Maple Ridge Times (CN BC) Copyright: 2004 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc Contact: http://www.mrtimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1372 Author: Alan Randell Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n762/a01.html Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/writers/Alan+Randell (LTEs by Alan Randell) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm (Racial Issues) DRUG LAWS DON'T WORK Editor: Re: Police Resources Can't Keep Up With Pot, TIMES, May 21 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 woman 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 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 that will supply cheap, quality tested drugs of known purity and potency and that, in order to avoid legal liability, will impart factual drug information to us and our children. Alan Randell Victoria