Two things puzzle me about Ian Bell's article in last weekend's Sunday's Herald (How to win the war on drugs? Legalise them, Comment, November 8).

Firstly, his point that Portugal's decriminalisation has resulted in the decrease in the price of street drugs. Isn't an increase in the price of addictive substances (booze, fags) meant to reduce demand?

Then: "So legalise the lot." Ok, let's. Watch for a massive price war between the major supermarkets. Buy one get one free?

Sadly, there is no answer and nobody should pretend they have it; too much to lose when, inevitably, things turn out differently from the visionary's dream.

Hugh Burns

Edinburgh

It seems that there was a comma in the wrong place in Ian Bell's excellent article. The prison industrial complex in the USA has now provided more than two million customers for companies like the Corrections Corporation of America. Over 900,000 are in jail for drug related crimes, 10 times more than stated in the article. The Scottish Government's response to the new Irish policy was predictably pathetic. A Celtic mouse?

Myles Cooney

Cambuslang