Pubdate: Tue, 23 Mar 2004
Source: Sand Mountain Reporter, The (AL)
Copyright: 2004sSand Mountain Reporter.
Contact:  http://www.sandmountainreporter.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1713
Author: Stephen Johnson

READER REACTS TO ALCOHOL LETTER

Dear Editor,

I am writing in response to last Thursday's letter, headed "Legal alcohol 
is like prostitution." The writer of this letter argues that it would be 
hypocritical to condone the sale of alcoholic beverages without also 
condoning the sale of "marijuana, meth, cocaine, etc."

I quite agree with this sentiment, and concede the point that legitimizing 
an already thriving local drug traffic by collecting taxes and licensing 
fees would be fiscally expedient, but, since alcohol is legal in this 
country and the other drugs listed are not, we in Albertville cannot 
realistically hope to achieve such a goal.

In light of the statistical fact that the "number one drug problem" facing 
our nation today is not alcohol, as this letter states, but tobacco, 
perhaps we should approach the problem from the opposite direction, and 
enforce a citywide prohibition on all tobacco products as well as 
alcohol--like they do in Iran, for example. Of course, we will need 
checkpoints on every road leading into town, so we can conduct extensive 
searches of all vehicles and their occupants, or else people might try to 
smuggle in their "cancer-sticks" from Guntersville or Sardis. I have heard 
rumors that some Albertvillians already do this with bottles and six-pack 
cans, hidden away in ordinary grocery sacks.

As a non-smoker who does not drink, aside from the occasional morning beer, 
I do not especially mind paying Guntersville taxes on products I will 
consume in Albertville. But I confess I would feel a bit safer if my 
neighbor, who might run out of booze and still have the shakes, and who 
tends to drive across my yard even when sober, had a liquor store within 
walking distance.

It is true, of course, that alcohol addiction causes incalculable pain and 
suffering for the addict and his or her loved ones, and I do not mean to 
make light of that.

But alcohol abuse is a medical problem and will only be solved by increased 
access to treatment and recovery programs: it will not yield to 
self-righteous moralizing and silly laws that simply make drinkers drive 
further for supplies, at the expense of the greater, non-alcoholic community.

As for the other "evils" of gambling and prostitution addressed in this 
letter, I agree: let Albertville take the lead, and full speed ahead! Would 
the governor be interested in a statewide lottery to fund higher education?

Perhaps now is the time. A lottery will not solve every problem we have 
but, coupled with a tax on legalized prostitution, for gays and straights 
alike, it might be a step in the right direction.

Legalize it? Heck, yes. Legalize it and supersize it!

Stephen Johnson

Albertville
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman