Letter writer Marc Raim started on the right track when he noted that "like any other business the drug trade is based on supply and demand" ("Reducing the number addicts is the key to reducing violence," June 4).
However, the real motive for any business in a capitalist society is profitability. What people are fighting over is the cash that goes along with the black market.
As long as you have cash, you'll not only have a black market to feed the habits of addicts, you'll also have people addicted to the lifestyle of hustling drugs who will continue to produce new generations of dealers.
The disease of addiction is neither drug-specific nor is it in any way tied to a particular socioeconomic or ethnic group. People who are addicted have no other alternatives except to use or suffer the pain of withdrawal. Using drugs can hardly be called a "choice."
George Hammerbacher, Baltimore