DRUG LAWS ONLY MAKE THINGS WORSE

Re: U.S. versus them, July 29.

The Libertarian Party's principle-based position on the war on drugs has
not changed in more than 30 years. Like most Americans, Libertarians demand
to be safe at home and on the streets. Libertarians would like all
Americans to be healthy and free of drug dependence. But drug laws don't
help; they only make things worse.

The professional politicians scramble to make names for themselves as tough
anti-drug warriors, while the experts agree that the war on drugs has been
lost, and could never be won. The tragic victims of that war are your
personal liberty and its companion, responsibility. It's time to consider
the re-legalization of drugs.

Some Americans will always use alcohol, tobacco, marijuana or other drugs.
Most are not addicts; they are social drinkers or occasional users. Legal
drugs would be inexpensive, so even addicts could support their habits with
honest work, rather than by crime. Organized crime would be deprived of its
profits. The police could return to protecting us from real criminals, and
there would be room enough in existing prisons for them.

It's time to re-legalize drugs and let people take responsibility for
themselves. Criminal laws only drive the problem underground and put money
in the pockets of the criminal class. With drugs legal, compassionate
people could do more to educate and rehabilitate drug users who seek help.
Individuals have the right to decide for themselves what to put in their
bodies, so long as they take responsibility for their actions.

From the mayor of Baltimore, Kurt Schmoke, to conservative writer and TV
personality William F. Buckley Jr., leading Americans are now calling for
repeal of America's repressive and ineffective drug laws.

The Libertarian Party urges you to join in this effort to make our streets
safer and our liberties more secure.

Daryl Henegar, Pinellas Park