Pubdate: Sat, 27 Apr 2013
Source: Daily Star, The (NY)
Copyright: 2013 The Daily Star
Contact:  http://www.thedailystar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/557
Author: Kirk Muse
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v13/n166/a10.html

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.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom