DRUG DELUSION

Re "Truce call in war on drugs" (Aug. 4): Ah, the old saw that
legalization of pot will get rid of the criminal market for it.
University instructor (and lawyer) Eugene Oscapella believes that the
criminal market for pot will be "defused" by legalizing it. I wonder
if Mr. Oscapella has ever heard of cigarettes. Cigarettes are legal,
they are taxed and they are heavily controlled. It only makes sense
that the same types of controls would be placed on legal marijuana.
Yet, somehow, there is a booming and violent criminal enterprise
devoted to the manufacture and distribution of cigarettes.

It's just down the road near Cornwall, if Mr. Oscapella would care to
visit.

There may be compelling reasons to legalize pot but the idea that it
will get rid of the criminal market for it is a fantasy espoused by
people who, I imagine, use too much of the very product that they
advocate for.

M. Chiviendacz

(Somehow, we doubt it will be like the end of Prohibition)