Pubdate: Fri, 08 Jul 2005 Source: Annex Guardian (CN ON) Copyright: 2005 Metroland Printing, Publishing and Distributing Contact: http://www.insidetoronto.ca/to/annex/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2316 Author: Roslyn Campbell FREE SOCIETY DOES WHAT'S BEST FOR OTHERS Re: 'Drug lab bust shows society not free,' Letters, June 24. Alan Randell from Victoria, B.C., writes: "In a free society, those who engage in an activity that does not directly and physically harm another are not regarded as criminals. ... In a free society, therefore, drugs and prostitution would be legal." What fairy tale world is he living in? I don't know how it is in Victoria, but here in Ontario and most other places, drug users are responsible for committing thousands of crimes a day in order to obtain money for drugs. Drug use also causes something called addiction, which is a terrible physical and mental condition that can destroy individuals as well as families. Many girls and women turn to prostitution to support their drug addiction, thus leaving them vulnerable to both contract and spread venereal diseases, some of which can be fatal. Innocent victims can also contract these diseases, such as wives of men who visit prostitutes. A free society is not one in which individuals can do anything that does not "directly and physically harm another." In that case, verbal and emotional abuse would be quite acceptable. No, in a free society people and government try to do what is best to help others to develop to their fullest potential. That does not include getting high or selling your body. Roslyn Campbell - --- MAP posted-by: Beth