Pubdate: Wed, 21 May 2008
Source: Patriot Ledger, The  (Quincy, MA)
Copyright: 2008 GateHouse Media, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.patriotledger.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1619
Author: Kirk Muse

Time for our nation to legalize drugs

Thanks for publishing Redford Givens' outstanding May 14 letter:
"Legalizing drug use best fix for problem,"

I'd like to add that re-legalizing drug use and sales is the only real
fix for our problem.

Will all of our drug problems disappear when drugs are re-legalized?
No.

When we re-legalized the drug alcohol in 1933, did all of our problems
with alcohol disappear? No.

However, we no longer have alcohol distributors settling their
disputes with each other with gun battles in the streets.

Now they settle their disputes with lawsuits.

Do we still have people who abuse alcohol?

Yes. However, we don't have people dying from alcohol of unknown
quality, unknown purity and unknown potency. Now alcohol is sold in
regulated, licensed and taxed business establishments.

Do we have lots of people advocating that we re-criminalize alcohol
use and sales?

No. If we re-legalized recreational drugs, I doubt that we would have
very many people seriously advocating that we re-criminalize them -
except for the out of work prison builders, prison guards and law
enforcement agents and bureaucrats.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Arizona
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin