REGULATE TO CONTROL

While I can appreciate the plea for ``No More Legal Drugs'' from a recent
letter writer (Aug. 5), the writer ignored a fundamental principle: People
are going to use drugs, legal or not.

Our policies should address the harm associated with that fact. It's true
that some teenagers become victims of alcohol abuse, but it is also true
that many, many more teens are denied access to alcohol than have access. If
alcohol were outlawed tomorrow and the criminal element took over the
market, would the number of kids who had access to alcohol increase or
decline? And what of the attendant consequences like addiction, death and
overdose?

Regulation affords us some measure of control over drugs no matter what kind
they are, and that's what ``legalization'' really means - taking control.

Jim White, Oregon, Ohio