Madam, - Your report (Dec 22nd) on the illegal drugs trade, whose value is conservatively put at €650 million, again emphasises the irrationality of having vast areas of the economy outside the legal framework. Prostitution is in the same bracket. Making the trade in drugs and prostitution illegal only benefits criminals. Society needs to be mature enough to accept that they are demanded by vast sections of the public and that the Exchequer should benefit from their taxation and not, due to their illegality, criminals.
Legalisation of these activities will also benefit society by freeing up hours of Garda and the courts' time, again saving millions.
Legalising heroin, which should be given free to addicts under medical supervision rather than being sold in Government outlets, will reduce the amount of burglaries considerably.
If it is dispensed to addicts this will also have a significant health benefit to the addicts themselves who will not be sold adulterated mixtures and through needle exchange will reduce the spread of infection such as hepatitis and Aids, again saving society millions. Counselling should, obviously, also be actively encouraged. Many prostitutes are also heroin addicts and are driven to their trade by the need to finance their habit.
The economic and social benefits to society of legalising these sections of the black economy are obvious. Unfortunately drugs and prostitution are demanded by society and we need to accept this unpalatable truth. How many more billions does society want to channel to unsavoury criminals and how many more people need to die from the spread of infection and adulterated drugs before we take the rational route and legalise these trades? - Yours, etc,
RICHARD MANN,
Glenageary,
Co Dublin.