Pubdate: Tue, 14 Apr 2009 Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU) Copyright: 2009 Canwest Publishing Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274 Author: Daniel Romano PROHIBITION NEVER WORKS Re: "Tobacco crackdown" (Gazette, April 8). Alcohol prohibition was a long and costly failure that did little more than promote violence and corruption. The War on Drugs being waged in Canada and the United States is costing billions of dollars yearly, increasing profit margins for criminal suppliers, financing terrorism, clogging our prison system, and ruining people's lives by burdening them with criminal records that can be much harder to overcome than any addiction. Neither of these repressive prohibitions was successful in eliminating consumption. Now our governments are attempting a de-facto prohibition on tobacco by imposing absurd taxes and banning smoking almost everywhere. It would appear that the motto of our elected representatives is "live and don't learn." Daniel Romano Citizens Against Government Encroachment Montreal - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin