The Editor, Sir:

There in the darkness of the cool Jamaica night, veiled, are an old man and woman crouched over with a lighter, a spoon, and the poison in the middle. I took a second look, and it was my cousin whom I didn't recognise. The other, was also a friend of mine.

From what I have observed, Jamaica is equipped with facilities which house addicts for a stint of anywhere between six months up to a year. Though this process is an integral key in the fight against dangerous drugs such as crack cocaine, it is only one quarter of the answer.

The money may seem lucrative to the drug dons in this trade, but make no bones about it, this drug epidemic will hit home where it hurts both the user and the non-user. Crack cocaine usage has far passed hardcore. Usage now borders on ridiculous and suicidal.

Beware! Crack cocaine does not discriminate. I've been a witness to the death of an engineer. I've been a witness to the total humiliation and ruination of a pharmacist and a would-be pilot.

The world of crack cocaine usage is not glamorous, neither is it a pretty sight.

Each and every Jamaican, home and abroad, has to fight against this dreadful epidemic.

Individuals known to flirt with this danger should be given a minimum sentence of three years in order to purge the poison from the blood stream, and a maximum sentence of 10 years if this addictive habit is repeated.

I am, etc.,

JAH GARY G. H. WILSON

jahbongo@netzero.com

Bronx, New York

Via Go-Jamaica