Pubdate: Sun, 21 Apr 2002
Source: Macon Telegraph (GA)
Copyright: 2002 The Macon Telegraph Publishing Company
Contact:  http://www.macontelegraph.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/667
Author: David Lane
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n751/a02.html

A BASIC TRUTH

In the letter headed "Wrong again" in the April 14 Macon Telegraph, 
Lee Cooper actually states a very basic truth, but still seems to not 
understand it. Mr. Cooper talks about a case of overdose on cocaine 
and Ecstasy and another case where someone writes bad checks to 
purchase drugs and winds up in jail away from his family.

Mr. Cooper then concludes sarcastically that "neither case would have 
occurred if drugs were legal." Well, Mr. Cooper, that is exactly 
right. If drugs were legal and controlled, no one would need to write 
bad checks to purchase them because users would not be paying 
inflated prices to support an unregulated criminal black market, the 
user would not be torn away from his family and thrown in jail, and 
overdoses would be greatly reduced because users would know exactly 
the purity, and dosage, of the drugs they are buying.

It then becomes a matter of personal responsibility. The most basic 
of all survival skills requires each of us to learn how to live in 
world full of various dangers, including drugs, or face the 
consequences for our errors.

David Lane
Santa Cruz, Calif.
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MAP posted-by: Josh