Pubdate: Sun, 05 Apr 2009
Source: Hendersonville Times-News (NC)
Copyright: 2009 Hendersonville Newspaper Corporation
Contact:  http://www.blueridgenow.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/793
Author: Ralph Givens
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n361.a01.html

DRCRIMINALZATION GIVES OUTLAWS CONTROL

To The Editor: It is curious that Susan Lane never considers the one thing
that would really solve the drug problem in Mexico - legalization.
Decriminalization is a dead end street because it reduces penalties for drug
users while leaving the drug business in the hands of outlaws.
The decriminalization model being discussed is identical to the way alcohol
prohibition worked - when Eliot Ness raided a speakeasy, the operators went
to jail and the customers went home. This system enabled Al Capone and his
ilk to violently control the bootleg booze market, the same way
decriminalizing drugs will leave the drug cartels in control.
The solution is to follow the pattern set after alcohol prohibition had
proved to be a disaster - repeal and regulation. Repeal put the bootleggers
out of business and we haven't had a bombing or a shoot out over a beer
route since 1933.

Ralph Givens

Daly City, Calif.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin