Sir. I find it fascinating that while everybody from the Provos to the PDs wants to "get tough" on drugs. Dr. Michael Smurfit, speaking at the K Club recently, seems to be one of the few people to have made the connection between poverty and drugs. This is timely as the current "get tough" stance is reminiscent of the failed "War on Drugs" policy so popular in the US a few years ago. The real issue in the "fight against drugs" is not how to stop the pushers, but to address the question of why people resort to drugs - undoubtedly poverty and social exclusion would feature high on the list of reasons. "Getting tough" with pushers, on its own, is insufficient, for as every economist knows, where there is a demand the market, legal or illegal, will supply that demand. The real answer is to reduce the demand through social action.
As Dr. Smurfit put it: "We are in danger of creating a two tier society and it is the Government's ongoing responsibility, primarily through its social legislation, to do its utmost to involve and support all sections of society." Perhaps this is the beginning of a more meaningful debate on the whole issue of drugs and poverty. - Yours etc.
Walnut Grove,
Wexford