Madam, - The enormous scale of the problems regarding the epidemic of illegal drug use was highlighted by two reports in your edition of December 8th.
The first quoted Dr Chris Luke, a consultant at Cork University Hospital, as saying that Ireland was at the beginning of a 10-year cocaine epidemic which would lead to "dozens and dozens" of deaths each year. The tragic deaths of two young men in Waterford as a result of eating cocaine certainly gives substance to his statement.
Furthermore, initial reports on the tragic death of the model Katy French, as yet unconfirmed, that cocaine use may have contributed to her demise add further weight to Dr Luke's prognosis.
The second report concerned the sentencing of a man convicted of conspiring in the possession of cocaine valued at €600,000. Despite legislation introduced in 1999 which provides for a minimum mandatory prison sentence of 10 years for those convicted of possessing drugs with a value of €13,000 or more for sale or supply, this man received a sentence of five years' imprisonment with four of those years suspended. With such leniency being exercised by some judges, is it any wonder our cities and towns are awash with illicit drugs?
Is it not a fact that sentences handed down in the courts are supposed to reflect society's abhorrence of certain crimes? Is it not also a fact that sentences handed down reflect what the judiciary regard as serious crimes and what they do not and, therefore, set standards of behaviour in society? - Yours, etc,
TOM COOPER, Delaford Lawn, Knocklyon, Dublin 16.
Madam, - I fully agree with your Editorial of December 8th that people who decide to take "a few lines" of cocaine at the weekend are indirectly responsible for all the problems associated with the drug, from its production in South America to gang crime on the streets of Dublin. However, such a line of argument can equally be applied to a whole host of products bought and consumed in Ireland.
Consider the countless toys manufactured under appalling conditions in China's Pearl River Delta. Nearly 3 million young workers provide the toys for only two manufacturers. These workers suffer chronic ailments from exposure to toxic chemicals, endure slum-like dormitory conditions and are forced to work overtime to pay employers for identity cards.
We live in a society where commodities are presented to us in neat, brightly coloured packaging. The underlying reality is very different and, as with those consuming cocaine, it is our hunger for these products that sustains complex systems of abuse and exploitation across the world. - Yours, etc,
PATRICK BRESNIHAN, Tagabay, Rosses Point, Co Sligo.