The Daily Telegraph does justice to the debate about illegal drugs by giving space to the views of both Tony Wood (Community wants NSW to stand firm, 8/12) and Emilie Dye (Making users crims doesn’t help anyone, 8/12). In the end, no whimsical hypotheses from the ivory towers of our disconnected universities will ever displace the hard reality of losing a family member to drugs. Mr Wood labels drugs as destructive, deriding their usage and horrific toll on Australian families. Ironically, profiteers in the drug trade are on his side, achieving greater profits in an illegal industry that is tax free, unregulated, without expensive quality assurance standards and not open to much competition. But, Ms Dye’s claims implode like a dropped jigsaw puzzle. Dance party drug takers do hurt more people than themselves, contrary to her claim. Legalising drugs is a green light for the curious. Habitual use of minor drugs often progresses. Her cane toad analogy is also misplaced. The cane toad wiped out the cane beetle, allowing survival of the sugar cane industry. The cure was not worse than the problem. More correctly, as often happens in nature, one solution leads to new problems, as will happen if Ms Dye’s views are given any credence. Alan Sexton, North Parramatta 9Dec2020.