Pubdate: Sat, 08 Dec 2001 Source: Beckley Register-Herald (WV) Copyright: 2001 The Register-Herald Contact: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd86 Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1441 Author: Joseph E Hopwood THE US SHOULD LEGALIZE DRUG USE I was impressed with Mr. Paul W. LeBlanc's simple logic. The idea of paying farmers not to grow drug-producing plants is economically intriguing and, by any bookkeeping method, beats all our drug eradication efforts by miles. Indeed, why should we spend billions of bucks funding an army to invade Colombia and destroy its citizens at some considerable expense of American lives? Are not our children's lives more important than any amount of drugs? However, there is a cheaper and simpler way out of this mess. Decriminalize personal amounts of drugs. There is nothing this or any other government can do to guarantee the radicals in the United States a drug-free world, which is the only way we may have a drug -free society in this country. The rest of the world is decriminalizing as I write; even stodgy old England is getting on the wagon by decriminalizing pot and legalizing the compassionate medical use of marijuana. Portugal has decriminalized drug use altogether. If we are to lead the world, we must be freer than other countries or our words will be seen as merely hollow hypocritical rhetoric. Decriminalize now and there will be so little profit in drug production that farmers will be left to starve if they do not switch to another crop. It is not the police our drug lords fear. It is the corner drug store. Joseph E. Hopwood Wheeling - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom