Source:  SpokesmanReview newspaper Spokane, WA Page B9
Contact:  62297

Bad Laws Discredit Law, Law Makers

Never have I read a column which so convincingly urged the end of the 
socalled war on drugs as Russ Moritz's column of June 15 ("Unnecessary 
as it is unwinnable; Sue for peace," Street Level).

I grew up in the small town of Mayville, Wis. At the time of World War 
I, approximately 90 percent of Mayville's population was of German 
ancestry. The citizens were conservative, with a strong belief in law 
and order. They did consider beer a part of their diet.

With the passage of the Volstead Act, over a presidential veto, the two 
breweries in the town closed down their facilities. But men like Al 
Capone were soon leading groups willing to supply the need for beer and 
hard liquor that had been either produced in illicit stills or brought 
across the Canadian border in highpowered vehicles.

The result of this bad law was a disregard  of it by those who would not 
have their ageold customs defined by edicts of the federal government. 
Distrust of that government by citizens who before WW I had been 
entirely loyal eventually led to a lessening of respect by all in the 
wisdom of our legislators.

Fred J. Meyer
Coulee Dam, WA