Pubdate: Sun, 01 Oct 2006 Source: Prince Albert Daily Herald (CN SN) Section: Pg 4 Copyright: 2006 Prince Albert Daily Herald Contact: http://www.paherald.sk.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1918 Author: Russell Barth Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) LEGALIZE METH Editor, Daily Herald: "Meth is here and it's not going to go away. It's highly lucrative to make this and it is highly addictive. We need to be proactive in identifying how to deal with this." In the 1930s, it wasn't the rumrunners, speakeasy owners, distillers, or alcoholics who demanded the regulation of alcohol. It was mothers, grandmothers, and teachers. Women in the last century knew something that our modern society can't seem to figure out: Prohibition does not reduce crime and danger, it causes it. How many bathtub gin mills do we see now that alcohol is regulated? Meth is not new. JFK and Hitler were both big users. If meth were made by pharmaceutical companies and sold to adults in pharmacies, we wouldn't have as many clandestine meth labs. If we gave meth out free at the clinics, the local meth dealer would have no customers. The stuff is pennies a dose when made by professional labs, and with no need to buy meth, the addicts wouldn't have to steal. Sure there would still be addicts, but they would be on quality controlled, dose regulated treatment coming from a nurse instead of home made insanity-powder they bought off of some creep. And the program would cost taxpayers a fifth of what we waste now on this absurd cops-courts-cages routine. Unfortunately, a lot of the meth made in Canada is sold in the US to feed their insatiable appetite for drugs. Even if we gave it away free to addicts like we do with methadone, people will still make meth because there is a market for it next door. Pot growers need months to grow a profitable crop, whereas a kilo of meth can be mixed up over a weekend. A marijuana grow op can catch fire, but seldom do. A meth lab explosion can instantly turn a three bedroom house into confetti. Which would you rather have next door? Russell Barth, Ottawa - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman