Sir, – Further to "It makes economic sense to legalise drugs" (Weekend, Opinion, May 4th), given the cost in human life through gang violence, the cost of investigating this violence, the cost of enforcing drug legislation and the health cost of people consuming contaminated substances, is the option of legalising drugs in their various forms not to be considered?
It appears that as a society, we are too entrenched in our moralistic views to consider the alternative. Not that long ago we considered it absolutely immoral that women could conceive children outside of wedlock, only to discover years later the cost of this dogma.
How long will we watch people die or lives be ruined through imprisonment before trying something new?
Taxes obtained through the regulated sale of products could be used to fund rehabilitation and education programmes. Must we persist in doing the same thing over and over again? – Yours, etc,
THOMAS McGARVEY,
Lambeg,
Co Antrim.