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From: ted@imsvax.UUCP (Ted Holden)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,net.followup
Subject: The mathematics of drugs
Message-ID: <619@imsvax.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 28-Sep-86 08:04:42 EDT
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Posted: Sun Sep 28 08:04:42 1986
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I don't know an exact figure, but I think five dollars would be a reasonable
guess as to the cost of a week's supply of heroin for a typical addict if 
produced and sold at cost by the govt. here in the United States.  As things 
presently stand, a DAY's supply runs $200 or $300 for many of them, and they
deal at twenty percent fences i.e. they have to steal $1000 worth of goods
at least to get that $200.  Times seven is $7000 minimum for a weekly figure;
five dollars worth of heroin is being converted into a bare minimum of $7000
worth of crime weekly per addict.  Times the number of such idiots running
around.  All of this amounts to one hell of a price to pay for a double
standard.  The U.S. Mayors' Council has repeatedly stated that 70% of big-city
crime would vanish overnight if heroin were legalized.

My solution: legalize heroin or at least provide free sources to addicts, no
questions asked,  legalize one or two of the designer drugs which are (relat-
ively) harmless such as marijuana and cocaine, and keep the real Jeckyl/Hyde
formulas such as lsd and pcp banned.  And have autos de fe for anyone caught
selling drugs of any sort to minors.