PAUL BOWLER,
A chara, - The Minister of State Noel Ahern (Opinion, July 15th) made depressing reading. His self-congratulatory tone smacked of "a lot done - more to do". His assertions denote a high level of cultural bias.
Not once in his lengthy tirade about the evils of drugs did he mention alcohol - a drug whose negative impact on our society can be seen nightly on our streets, in our casualty departments and in the over-stretched refuges that women are forced to flee to. As for tobacco, Mr Ahern mentions it only once. This is a drug which is killing tens of thousands of our citizens annually. His only comment is that it is possibly less carcinogenic than cannabis smoke. Would Mr Ahern like to inform us just how many people die from illegal drug use in one year?
I wonder if Mr Ahern has ever taken the time to examine the experiences of other jurisdictions. There are myriad variations. There are the permissive policies of Holland, the repressive policies of the US and even more repressive policies of Saudi Arabia, which actually executes its drug dealers. What is the one thing they all have in common? Drug use is largely unaffected.
Our Justice Minister, Mr McDowell, last week was urging the Garda to increase by 25 per cent the number of drug arrests they make. This week Mr Ahern is telling us that our laws are grand and sure a bit of education will see us all right. Why not dare to be different? Legalise and tax the lot. And actually use the money to eliminate the ghettos of social exclusion, which make getting high on heroin so attractive. Provide funds to help those who wish to stop using drugs. Create an education system designed to produce citizens with strong self-esteem, not the competitive, socially retarded binge drinkers it churns out every year. And finally fund the construction of amenities which facilitate social interaction without alcohol.
Ultimately, the Government must accept that attempts to regulate and legislate for private behaviour will always end in failure. There is simply no precedent in history to indicate even the remotest possibility of this or any other government being successful in eliminating drug use. - Yours, etc.,
PAUL BOWLER, Grosvenor Park, Rathmines, Dublin 6.