Reader's Letter Of The Weekend

From the FT, a bit lengthy, but good stuff nonetheless:

Sir, Matthew Engel’s interesting article on legalising drugs made the point that a substantial proportion of crimes, in this country and elsewhere, are drug-related; perhaps more than half of all crimes (Just say yes August 1).

He did not make the point that the great increase in organised crime in the days of prohibition of alcohol in America led to the establishment of an enduring underworld, not hiding in dark streets but living in wealth as a corrupting element in society. It was the criminalisation of a widespread activity that made this possible, since only criminals could supply it, and, inevitable, since the demand was so general.

The same is true today. The worldwide drug market is second only to the energy market in size and much of that vast wealth supplies and sustains organised, professional criminals. The issue bedevils the war in Afghanistan. The economies of several poor countries are based on drugs. There are national and private armies fighting over the trade. many cities are blighted by the lawlessness engendered by drug-related crime.

In view of the fact that history does not suggest that, in the many years when drugs were lawful, their consumption was as great as it is now they are unlawful, the creation and sustaining of criminal empires is the one certain effect of their proscription.

One prime reason for legalising drugs is that so doing would remove the great financial base of national and international crime. It is not likely that such a change in approach can be brought in globally, at one time, so some western nation, or nations, should lead the way.

John Beveridge, London SW1, UK