Prohibition is a drastic failure

COLLISS PARRETT'S letter contains statements bizarre enough to rival the
gobbledegook of the most rigid intolerant.

Mr Parrett would have us limit treatments of heroin addiction to "one or two
methods". Do we then abandon those that could not maintain total abstinence
after Naltrexone fails or another method such as Methadone treatment is
unsuccessful? Is total abstinence of opiate addiction so momentous that we would
prefer death of our children than to live with their infirmities?

His analogy of treating a drug addicition and comparing it to a broken leg is
irresponsible for someone that has held a position in the Commonwealth Drugs of
Dependence area.

Mr Parrett's call for us to forget drug libertarians and open societies is
perhaps his greatest perversity. By definition libertarian means to be fair
minded, open minded, broadminded, tolerant, magnanimous, unprejudiced, unbiased,
impartial and an enlightened humanitarian. Without an open society we would not
have the freedoms and liberties we enjoy today.

The Swiss have decided that saving the lives of even the most downtrodden and
sometimes repulsive members of their society is more important than clinging to
antiquated laws. Time has shown prohibition has been a drastic failure.

RICHARD TALIAFERRO
Hughes