Pubdate: Sat, 27 Apr 2013
Source: The Daily Star (AZ)
Author: Kirk Muse

DRUG WAR HASN'T MEANT FEWER ADDICTS

Thanks for publishing Daniel Liddle's thoughtful letter: "The war on
drugs has been a nightmare" (April 17).

Imagine if we had no "drug-related crime." Imagine if our overall
crime rate was a small fraction of our current crime rate. We once had
such a situation in the United States. Prior to the passage of the
Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914, the term "drug-related crime" didn't
exist. And drug lords, drug cartels or even drug dealers as we know
them today, didn't exist, either.

Back then, all types of recreational drugs were legally sold to
anybody with no questions asked, for pennies per dose, in grocery
stores and pharmacies. Did we have a lot more drug addicts then
compared to now? No. We had about the same percentage of our
population addicted to drugs, according to U.S. District Judge John L.
Kane of Colorado.

For the sake of our children, can we "re-legalize" our now-illegal
drugs and sell them at licensed business establishments? This would
put the drug dealers and drug lords out of business overnight.

And this would eliminate the lure of the "forbidden fruit" that makes
drugs so attractive to children.

I would like to suggest that The Daily Star readers search Google or
Youtube.com for "Retired police captain demolishes the war on drugs."

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.