Pubdate: Sun, 01 Jun 2003
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Copyright: 2003 Richmond Newspapers Inc.
Contact:  http://www.timesdispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365
Author: Walter Bender
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n736/a01.html
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?203 (Terrorism)

GOVERNMENT CREATES BLACK MARKET IN DRUGS

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Joe Dombroski says that thanks to the government's TV ads we know 
terrorists fund themselves by trading in drugs. Sorry, but I need proof - 
not TV ads. But it does remind me of the congressional hearings when a good 
little bit of testimony said the CIA funded itself by running drugs.

There is a lot of profit in drugs, but only because drugs are illegal. The 
government creates the black market, and then complains about its effects.

I have a solution: Let's save the billions in law enforcement, the pain 
from the violence, and the waste from thousands in jail. Let's let drugs 
fall in cost to that of any normal market. Let the usual number - small 
percentages throughout history - do drugs and let's have a regulated 
market, as we do with alcohol, which does a better job of keeping the kids 
away.

Walter Bender
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager