SOFTENING DOPE LAWS NOT END OF WORLD

Re Softer drug laws 'not helpful' (News, May 9).

Remember the Homosexual Law Reform Bill? Passed in the 1980s. Remember
the fear-mongerers predicting society's immediate decay? And what
happened? Nothing of the kind. Life as usual for those ones so afraid.

Same goes with the "legalise marijuana" issue.

So many smoke it now - taken sensibly, it has its place as a
recreational drug as much as alcohol - enjoying a high mankind has
enjoyed in a vast variety of forms throughout the ages.

Some abuse it, as some abuse alcohol. So it always will be. But to
soften the law will not increase the problems, it just shifts the
fight to a different arena - away from the courts, where smokers are
made criminals, and into private homes, where the real problems lie.
As so it should be.

Wherever there is abuse of a substance there is a lost soul. Just
don't blame the substance and penalise peaceful dope-smokers for those
who can't handle life alone.

People are afraid of what they don't understand. It doesn't make them
right.

Jan Morrison

Welcome Bay