28/12/2007 00:00:00
Letter: Let's Absorb Lessons from the US - Sentinel
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I Read John Pye's letter (Never forget the influence of this devastating
rug) with some sadness. Like all police officers (and I was one for 34
years) he knows that in order to prove a case you need to assemble the
evidence. Like many, he doesn't carry that thinking with him when it
comes to arguing for a particular policy or course of action. If John
Pye's position is the correct one, then alcohol should be banned
tomorrow.I was one of the first members of the Durham Constabulary Drugs
Squad when it was formed in 1969 to deal with the results of The Misuse
Of Drugs Act of that year. The UK hadn't had a problem until then, but
we had learnt from the experience of the USA, which demonstrated such
startling success with its prohibition of alcohol some 50 years earlier,
and we wanted to follow them.
Well, we've succeeded. The rate of consumption of all drugs has grown
beyond our wildest hopes, the profits to be made are higher than anyone
could have expected, and the proliferation of guns on our streets is
moving towards the levels of Chicago in the 1930s.
Are we able to learn from this? I remain confident that we will. The USA
did eventually repeal its laws on the prohibition of alcohol. Let us
destroy the market which we've created and stop encouraging young men to
make so much money out of the misery of others.
PAUL WHITEHOUSE
Member, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Former Chief Constable of Sussex
http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/
Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=13101
Author:
The Sentinel via UKCIA
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