Letter: A way out of the drugs dilemma

Sir: There is a problem with legalising drugs: that it would convey the message that they are harmless (Letters, 12 August). There is a problem with not legalising them: that the law seems to many people irrational and is widely disregarded.

The solution is to create a third category: tolerated substances, neither illegal nor ignored by the law, which would include tobacco and alcohol. Their sale should be subject to stringent conditions: no advertising; health warnings; police powers to check for dangerous additives; duty sufficient to pay the costs inflicted on society.

P J STEWART

Oxford