Pubdate: Thu, 04 Jun 2015 Source: Washington Post (DC) Copyright: 2015 The Washington Post Company Contact: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491 Author: Stan Namovicz Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v15/n295/a05.html THIS PROHIBITION WON'T WORK EITHER In her May 31 Sunday Opinion commentary, "Caught in the drug trade," Danielle Allen proposed decriminalizing marijuana and other illegal drugs as a matter of justice because drug prohibition laws are administered inequitably. This reminds me of T.S. Eliot's line, "The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason." Even if drug prohibition were administered equitably, it would still be a costly folly, as we should have learned many years ago with alcohol prohibition. Alcohol and tobacco are as addictive and harmful as any of the prohibited drugs. An enlightened policy would legalize, regulate, tax and educate. Prohibition serves only to establish a criminal enterprise that breeds violence and tends to corrupt law enforcement. We spend some $50 billion a year to maintain this futile policy. If we would do the right thing, we would eliminate a great deal of corruption and violence while tapping a significant source of revenue. Stan Namovicz, Takoma Park - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom