Pubdate: Sun, 28 Dec 2008
Source: Times-Reporter (New Philadelphia, OH)
Copyright: 2008 The Copley Press Inc.
Contact:  http://www.timesreporter.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1188
Author: Colin E. Bayliss

BAN HASN'T SOLVED PROBLEM WITH DRUGS

To the Editor:

On Dec. 8, you wrote a piece applauding the state  patrol in keeping 
illegal drugs off state highways.

Please allow me to object to your statement because it  might lead 
some weak-minded people to think that  stricter law enforcement would 
do some good regarding  our illegal drug problem. That is just plain 
wrong.  Prohibition does not work.

The same law that made alcohol illegal also made heroin  illegal. It 
did not work for alcohol and it will never  work for heroin. The 
lawmakers, those gutless  politicians, again made alcohol legal in 
1933 but they  did not make heroin legal.

Prior to Prohibition, 1.3 percent of the population was  addicted to 
heroin. When Reagan started the war on  drugs there were 1.3 percent 
addicted to heroin, and  when it was last estimated two years ago, 
there still  were 1.3 percent addicted to heroin.

When something does not work, it needs to be changed.  If we 
legalized heroin, allowed doctors to write  prescriptions for it and 
had them filled in a pharmacy,  we could control, monitor and tax it 
- -- and instead of  pouring $50 billion a year down a rat hole we 
could create ad campaigns and greatly increase the treatment  centers 
to help the addict when he/she does decide to  do something about it.

Law enforcement does not work. Let's do something that  does work, 
and while we are at it, we can do something  for ourselves -- we can 
lower tax expenditures,  increase tax income and lower the crime rate 
since 70  percent of all crime is related to the need to get  money 
to buy grossly overpriced illegal drugs.

Colin E. Bayliss

Dover
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