Cocaine and other causes of violence

I understand George Monbiot's view on casual drug use, but he rather undermines himself by concluding that his opinion is worthless (Yes, addicts need help. But all you casual cocaine users want locking up, 30 June). It is true that we have little idea of the potential effect on the developing world of legalisation, so it is surprising that he suggests a comparison between the costs of prohibition and those of legalisation. I would suggest that the best way to estimate the effect of a change in the approach to drugs on the developing world is a comparison with other legal goods.

A large proportion of goods used in the west are produced in poorer countries, but what is the difference between the "bad" drugs and "good" products such as oil, gas, and cheap clothes, other than arbitrary classification by America and its allies? Both have been the cause of and the excuse for violence, displacement and virtual enslavement of large numbers of people.

The unequal balance of production and consumption is always likely to lead to problems, but in recent times we have seen the power of the consumer to effect change on the producer. Fair trade and ethical products are a step in the right direction, and there is no reason why we can't extend such practice to everything we consume.

If cocaine were legalised, I have no doubt that it would not take long for a fair trade product to become available. As long as the opening up of legal markets were gradual, it could have substantial positive effect.

Still, unless there is the sea-change in governing attitudes needed to permit the funding and publication of large scale studies into the possibilities of global legalisation, all is speculation. I just fail to see why Mr Monbiot feels able to single out casual drug use for particular demonisation. Unfortunately, we all engage in hypocrisy on a daily basis, but that is no reason to belittle our incremental efforts to lead a better life. I would add that while I have used cocaine and other substances in the past, I have made a choice not to continue. The hectoring of holier-than-thou individuals like Mr Monbiot has not contributed to my decision.
Simon Dennis

While I agree with most of what George Monbiot says, he is mistaken in laying the blame for Colombia's horrific level of violence exclusively on cocaine trafficking. The main cause of the violence in Colombia is a political struggle over the future of the country. Thousands of trade unionists and human rights activists have disappeared, been killed or jailed, almost all of whom had no links with the narco-trade. As Hugh O'Shaugnessy and I found a few years ago when writing a book on coca eradication in Colombia, almost all the billions of dollars coming from the US-funded Plan Colombia were going into military assistance, not development aid. The targeted areas were those held by leftwing guerrillas, not by the paramilitaries, whose activities the government largely condoned.

Even today, with the guerrilla threat more or less contained, it is proposed that next year's funding be equally divided between military assistance and economic development. The "war on drugs" has been a smokescreen behind which the US government has pursued the broader goal of defending its strategic interests. This is not to say that the billions of narco-dollars circulating the country has not intensified the conflicts, but it is a misleading simplification to speak of cocaine causing the violence.
Sue Branford
Clun, Shropshire

Following a straw poll of all the Guardian readers I know, I am incensed by George Monbiot's sweeping statement concerning casual cocaine use and "most of the readership of this newspaper". In the past I have admired much of what he has said; more recently I am finding he is dogmatic, bitter and talking off the top of his head. Whether or not what he says is true I am now unable to judge, as the part that I can substantiate is insulting and generalised. Fine if his Guardian-reading friends are cocaine users, but he should not put me and my friends in the same class, and himself on a pedestal.
Rachel Barker
Hungerford, Berkshire

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