Pubdate: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 Source: Financial Times (UK) Copyright: The Financial Times Limited 2005 Contact: http://www.ft.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/154 Author: Gerry O'Neill THERE WOULD BE MANY BENEFITS FROM LEGALISING DRUGS Sir, Antonio Maria Costa (Letters, January 22/23) argues that the legalisation of drugs would merely lead to an increase in the number of addicts of certain drugs and would not curb organised crime because of a fall in the price of those drugs. He seems to overlook a number of points. First, legalisation would reduce the enormous profits of the suppliers, causing a reduction in supply in response to a fall in the price per tonne. Farmers would have little incentive to grow drugs. Second, your editorial "The unwinnable war on drugs" (January 15) recognised that the link was between organised crime and the drugs trade. It is certainly true that organised crime would divert its attention to other, more profitable, areas but there would be significant savings in the military and law enforcement areas due to legalisation. One would expect to see rapid reductions in crimes such as petty theft and prostitution as prices fell on the streets. Indeed, some companies may be willing to enter into legal production under a suitable regulatory environment that would ameliorate some of the worst excesses of the current trade and addicts could be treated as having substance abuse problems rather than as criminals. One can speculate too on the impact of legalised drugs upon prison economies where they are used as currency. Mr Costa quotes the impact of the ending of prohibition but should learn the lessons of history and study how the legalisation of alcohol resulted in benefits to society, some of which accrued due to organised crime switching away from production of alcohol, allowing new entrants into the market and removing some of the corruption from the law enforcement services. There is more than one side to a story, all of which should be told, especially if one has a vested interest in keeping the market for drugs illicit. GERRY O'NEILL Wayne, NJ 07470, USA - --- MAP posted-by: SHeath(DPFFLorida)