HIGH ON DRUGS

Re: 'Drug traffickers missed memo,' Mindelle Jacobs, March 3.

"Why should we leave the regulation of these drugs to criminal gangs
and the black market?" asks Boyd. "We would fare better as a society
regulating them ourselves."

The war on certain drugs was never meant to be won, it was meant to be
continuous.

It was designed specifically to reduce the civil rights and liberties
of the general population, accustom them to an ongoing and
ever-growing police presence, drain taxpayers' dollars, and to keep
lawyers rich, cops busy, and jails full. That is why Harper is
ignoring history, science, and common sense in his drug strategy. The
mandatory minimum sentences are designed to scare off the mom and pop
growers who offer direct market competition to the gang growers.

When these people are out of the picture, it leaves more business for
the gangs.

This policy will inevitably increase crime and violence. Anyone who
thinks prohibition was designed to reduce crime and drug use must be
high on drugs.

RUSSELL BARTH

NEPEAN, ONT.

(They act high in Ottawa quite often.)