Pubdate: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 Source: Agassiz Harrison Observer (CN BC) Copyright: 2008 Agassiz Observer Contact: http://www.agassizharrisonobserver.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1344 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n301/a07.html Author: Redford Givens LOOK TO THE SWISS DRUG PROGRAM Dear Editor, Re: 'Free Narcotics won't work' letter March 19 People should take a look at the Swiss Heroin Maintenance Programme before denouncing the idea of ending drug prohibition. It is a huge mistake to think that outlaw drug dealers can remain in business against the competition of "free" or cheap legal drugs. Who would buy potentially lethally impure drugs from a character on the street when pure pharmaceutical heroin and cocaine are available at a low price. Proof that hard line drug prohibition causes drug deaths and drug crimes comes from the Swiss Heroin Maintenance Programme where addicts are supplied with cheap, pure heroin and cocaine. The Swiss have not had a single overdose death in the program and injection-transmitted diseases (HIV/AIDS, Hep C etc) are now a rarity in Switzerland. The criminal drug black market has vanished in Switzerland since the Swiss began providing addicts with cheap legal drugs. The success of the Swiss Heroin Maintenance Program in causing a more than an 97% reduction in addict crime in Switzerland is something drug warriors do not want to discuss. Swiss policy has also resulted in an 82-percent decrease in heroin addiction since 1990. Besides these concrete benefits, the Swiss report saving over $100/day/addict in lower police, incarceration and health care expenses. The Swiss are so pleased with the results of Heroin Maintenance that they made this their national drug policy. Using jail cells to treat addicts has not achieved similar success anywhere in the world since 1914. Anyone truly concerned about the victims of drugs, will work to end an immoral drug crusade that murders more than 30,000 people every year and spawns a multitude of criminal activity. Ignorance and good intentions are no excuse for continuing a destructive drug crusade. Redford Givens, San Francisco, CA - --- MAP posted-by: Derek