January 5, 2013Dear SirFor the record, I’m white, I do not smoke or use illegal drugs but for close to 20 years I have argued with family and friends about the need to decriminalise drugs. Recent blogs have discussed legally growing cannabis in Bermuda and selling it to adults only in packs of 20 cigarettes with the Government taking a percentage to fund drug education and rehabilitation programmes for those that have become addicted to more harmful drugs. Growing and packaging should be by the Government, not individuals, so that the strength and quality of the cannabis can be consistently maintained at acceptable levels and smoking should be only at home and users in some job categories will need to be monitored, like airline pilots. An acceptable restriction for decriminalising a great many residents who smoke.I’m not sure how anybody would prevent teenagers from getting hold of a pack of cannabis cigarettes unless there was mandatory testing in schools with real consequences as a deterrent. We all know that many children are smoking now without any real sanction but currently they risk being labelled as criminals and being put on the stop list for their experimentation. Should it be discouraged, yes, most certainly, but legalising cannabis is an acceptable risk. Doing illegal stuff is seen as cool by some children but as it will become legal upon reaching 18 years of age, the allure will fade. I would go further than legalising cannabis. Those who are addicted to other drugs are going to find a way to get them by stealing or prostituting themselves, because they must have their fix. It makes no difference that some expert will say that these drugs are bad for them, we know that already, but an addict should not also be forced into a life of crime or depravity to support their addiction. They have little or no control over their urges but with a very few exceptions; addicts are not a threat to other’s safety. They need help, not persecution.I would decriminalise, not legalise, all drugs and allow addicts to receive their drug of choice from a Government clinic while attending counselling and rehabilitation programmes to try and wean them off so that they can become fully contributing members of the community for the first time, or again. Some may remain addicts for life and be unemployable, so be it, but they do not need to be criminals as well and the general public will see a reduction in petty crime when addicts no longer need to source funds for their next fix. My home has been broken into six times over the last 15 years for a few coins and the cost of repairs and security far outweigh the monetary loss through theft. We also lose more people due to tobacco and alcohol than we lose to currently illegal drugs.There is another benefit in decriminalising drugs. We all know that the gangs’ main source of income is drugs. Remove the financial rewards and the easy money and the allure of a gang membership is diminished. The children that the gangs recruit by feeding them drugs until they are addicted and will do anything for their next fix, including murder, will also diminish as the children can safely seek help from the Government clinics who will try and end their dependence. Bermuda would become safer and perhaps more like it was thirty plus years ago when we could go almost anywhere safely and leave our homes and cars unlocked. Simple solution? Perhaps not but the war on drugs has been as dismal a failure as US prohibition. It is time to end the war and accept and work with reality. Has our new Government the will to try something new?NOT A USERPembroke