Your recent article on the proposed $10 million or so for substance abuse treatment centers prompted me to wonder where our state can find this money when we are supposedly so poor. Helping others, such as when natural disasters occur, is laudable. Drug addicts, on the other hand, have put themselves in that situation. It is time for people everywhere to take responsibility for their actions. Curiously, these addicts find money to purchase drugs (I wouldn't know where to get them), but can't find money to get treatment. I suggest that those using these facilities be required to pay at least a part of their recovery costs. Louisville 40299 [end]
Recent stories about crimes/deaths show drugs as a major motive. We need to learn a lesson from history. Prohibition also resulted in crime, and no Eliot Ness will solve today's problems. Legalizing drugs will. My grown children were incredulous of this stance, but here it is: The potency of drugs can be controlled. No more overdoses. Prices can be reduced, taking away the crime motive. Dispensing drugs from sanitary facilities would reduce the spread of AIDS, etc. Taking away the clandestine activities would reduce the attractiveness to many who try to "get away with it." Some who want to get off drugs could be weaned by dispensing controlled dosages. I've always thought we send a lot of money out of the country that we should keep here. Put drug enforcers on other crimes. Louisville 40299 [end]
I seldom read a Gathering Place that I totally disagree with, but you published one by Richard O. Rowland ("'Ice' use is a decision, not a curable disease," Aug. 28) that fills the bill. I have written about and researched crystal meth for more than six years. I've talked and listened to hundreds of ice addicts in recovery. I've contacted professionals all over the nation to get their opinions and advice. I'm not a professional in the field myself, but allow me to quote from Kevin Kunz, whose guest column appeared in the Star-Bulletin on Feb. 27, 1999. Kunz, a physician at Kona Community Hospital, is a specialist in addiction treatment. He shared with Star-Bulletin readers the lessons he had learned: [continues 71 words]
MAPUTO, Jul 25 (IPS) - Drug interdiction efforts through the coordinated programmes of police forces of the region are having mixed results against small-landholder farmers who find marijuana cultivation yields by far their most lucrative cash crop. "Each of the 14-member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have participated in drug-busting efforts, both through intelligence gathering and actual manpower provided by their national police establishments," says assistant inspector Vusie Masuku of the Swaziland Police Force. A sketch of the drug routes through the African sub-continent finds marijuana, or dagga as it is known locally, cultivated in eastern South Africa, southern Mozambique and the mountain areas of Swaziland. The crop is taken to Johannesburg for transshipment to Europe. [continues 871 words]