Promote marijuana and heroin?

Smokers are a danger to the community at large as well as to themselves and a cost to every taxpayer for the medical expenses they impose on the public-health system, so there is a perfectly valid reason for the community to protect itself against their haplessness.

Of course, Keith Whitfield (Peninsula News Forum, April 18) is correct to point out that alcohol is a much more dangerous drug than nicotine and also leads to enormous social costs, and it is to be hoped that a vigorous campaign against drinking will be the next step in a rational public-health program.

However, his suggestion that smoking (and, by extension, alcohol) should be banned is too absurd to be considered, as we have the irrefutable evidence of the futility of this kind of exercise in the growing problem with the use of banned drugs.

Perhaps, smokers could be weaned away from nicotine by promoting the use of marijuana and heroin which are much less dangerous and antisocial drugs than either nicotine or alcohol.

This would allow anti-drug efforts to concentrate on alcohol, amphetamines and cocaine which are a serious social and medical concern.

Email, 21 Apr 2011 Bruce Hyland, Daleys Points