Time to punish the pushers

READING Humberside chief constable Tim Hollis’s article on the misuse of drugs (Yorkshire Post, December 18), there is, in my humble opinion, one sure way to reduce the number of drug users and that is to severely punish the pushers.

If the dealers were given harsh sentences as well as those who smuggle drugs into prison, there would be a substantial reduction in drug use. It is because the profits are so high and the risk of penalties that deter so low that the trade flourishes.

Prisons for drug dealers should be void of all luxuries such as TV and gymnasiums. Food should be wholesome and boring. But no, the tree huggers and do-gooders would raise massive objection to such a regime, despite the fact that the dealers ruin so many young lives in search of gain.

Same sex and same feelings

From: Brian Sheridan, Redmires Road, Sheffield.

HOW does Heather Causnett know that “the feelings of homosexuals are patently different from those of heterosexuals” (Yorkshire Post, December 18)? Some – and I would go no further than that – have mannerisms and interests more commonly associated with the opposite sex. In this respect, some gay men may be said to have a highly developed feminine side. Yet this is the case with many heterosexual men.

The single factor that reliably distinguishes homosexuals, male and female, from their fellow human counterparts is a physical attraction to the opposite sex. No more than that.

Peas offering

From: Joyce Hayward, Parkgate, Rotherham.

I READ with interest the article by Bernard Ginns (Yorkshire Post, December 18) regarding the Booths Supermarket group, and the inset article “Backing the small producers”. What a shame he didn’t take this opportunity to mention more of the Yorkshire producers, especially Swaythorpe Growers’ Yorkshire peas, petit pois and broad beans, grown on our very own Yorkshire Wolds and in such difficult circumstances this year!