Pubdate: Tue, 26 Jun 2001 Source: Rock River Times (IL) Copyright: The Rock River Times 2001 Contact: http://www.rockrivertimes.com/ Feedback: http://www.rockrivertimes.com/contact.shtml Address: 128 N. Church St., Rockford, Illinois 61101 Fax: 815 964-9825 Author: Mike Heitzman FRUITLESS WAR I am disgusted that after fighting a losing drug war for 30 years that the American public still gives their approval to push on. Even prohibition of alcohol didn't last very long before the public woke up and seen the damage it had done. People realized that alcohol had become a part of our society. Don't people realize that there is evidence of ancient drug use that dates back way farther than any documented alcohol use. The point is that people around the world have been using drugs for thousands of years, why do we think we can get rid of drugs in 10, 20, 30, or even a hundred years. It's mission impossible. This is a probability of what would happen if we legalize all drugs: If all drugs were legal, addicts would no longer pay black-market prices to criminals for drugs of questionable and dangerous origin. They would get drugs produced by legitimate pharmaceutical companies and pay market prices. They would no longer die from buying toxic drugs, and they would no longer have to mug innocent people to support their habits. If all drugs were legal, addicts could seek help by going to doctors -- no longer afraid of being prosecuted for their medical problems. If all drugs were legal, criminal drug dealers would no longer be on our streets. They couldn't compete with the low, free-market prices for drugs sold at pharmacies. If all drugs were legal, criminal drug dealers would no longer prey upon our children -- any more than distilleries and breweries try to infiltrate schools to hook kids on alcohol. If all drugs were legal, our government would no longer be dispensing propaganda that makes children want to try the forbidden fruit. If all drugs were legal, our prisons would be emptied of hundreds of thousands of non-violent people who have never done harm to anyone else. No longer would over-crowded prisons cause truly violent criminals to be free on early release and plea bargains to terrorize the rest of us. If all drugs were legal, law-enforcement resources would be available to fight violent crime, instead of being used to chase people who may harm themselves but are no threat to us. If all drugs were legal, much of the street violence would end -- as it did when Alcohol Prohibition ended -- because gangs of thugs would no longer be fighting over drug territories. If all drugs were legal, police corruption would diminish, because criminals could no longer use black-market drug money to gain immunity by subverting weak policemen. If all drugs were legal, the government could no longer use the Drug War as an excuse to tear up the Bill of Rights and pry into your bank account, strip-search you at an airport, tear your car apart, monitor your email, shoot down planes of innocent people, or seize your property without even charging you with a crime. Please help speak out and stop these great atrocities! Mike Heitzman-Libertarian from Rockford,IL - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager