Sir, – Should Peter McVerry's powerful column ("Treat drug misuse by doing U-turn on policy", Opinion & Analysis, July 4th) on illegal drug policy and the billions spent on the long-lost "war on drugs" not prompt the Government to commission a multidisciplinary study of the case for legalising some illegal drugs and bringing their trade not just notionally but actually into our GDP calculations? – Yours, etc,
TERRY GRIFFIN,
Aughrim Street,
Dublin 7.
Sir, – Peter McVerry’s argument that “trying to eradicate illegal drugs” is a “lost war” is unacceptable. His recommendation that “we treat drug misuse as a health and social problem” rather than a criminal justice problem is a recipe for social disintegration on a massive scale.
What the level of drug use would be if drugs were not illegal can only be imagined.
The cost in damage to health and the level of drug treatment that would be needed if we were to follow Fr McVerry’s advice would bankrupt the country, not to mention wreck the lives of countless more families. – Yours, etc,
ANTHONY LEAVY,
Shielmartin Drive,
Sutton,
Dublin 13.