Pubdate: Fri, 10 Jan 2003
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2003 Cox Interactive Media.
Contact:  http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28
Author: Sterling Voth
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n020/a06.html

NO USE FIGHTING HUMAN NATURE

I, too, am livid over the way we treat people over drugs. Our so-called war 
on drugs has been a dismal failure and will never be won because it is 
going against human nature.

All through history a certain percentage of folks have taken to using some 
sort of escape, and only when we made that illegal in the early 20th 
century did we start to bring the criminal element into it. I don't use 
drugs and certainly don't advocate it, but I live and work in an area where 
there is horrible crime, and virtually all of it is directly related to 
drug traffic.

I say drug "traffic" and not drug "use"; if drugs were legal, you could get 
them at a store or pharmacy like all the other legal drugs, and people 
wouldn't be killing themselves and others over getting them.

We are being totally hypocritical and come off as fools. Future generations 
will wonder how we could be so uncivilized at such a late date in our 
development.

Sterling Voth

Baton Rouge, La.
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