Pubdate: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 Source: Albuquerque Journal (NM) Copyright: 2008 Albuquerque Journal Contact: http://www.abqjournal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/10 Author: Bill Koehler OUTLAWING METH THE UNDERLYING WOE RE: "METH CRISIS Is Closer to You Than You Think" commentary by D'Val Westphal Thomas Paine said, "These are the times that try men's souls ..." Benjamin Franklin said, "Those who would give up liberty for security deserve neither." Patrick Henry said, "Is life so dear and peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? ... We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ..." Westphal seems to think that we should throw away our freedom because there is danger in the use of some drugs. We have already tried this solution with the same abject failure we are having today when we prohibited alcohol. In 5,000-plus years of human history, prohibition has always produced the same results -- crime and corruption. The worst tragedy in this is that the crime of murder is increased by bad laws -- which are nothing more than religion enacted into law -- yet they seem to overlook this problem when they call for more prohibition. People do dumb things to themselves. Making it worse by prohibiting their folly simply makes their problem my problem. The drug itself is not the problem. The massive crime and corruption created by prohibition is. One more quote, George Santayana, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Prohibition does more harm than good and violates everything this country stands for. Bill Koehler Albuquerque - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake