WAR ON DRUGS IS A DETRIMENT TO SOCIETY

Thanks for publishing Steve Skutnik's outstanding column ("War on
drugs levies hefty toll," Jan. 9).

Suppose another country had almost no drug problem. Suppose that
country had less than a small fraction of 1 percent of our drug
arrests. And suppose that country had almost no "drug-related crime."
Suppose that their robbery rate was a small percentage of our robbery rate.

Do you think is might be wise to carefully observe that other
country's drug policy and that we should model their drug policy?

Well, there is such a country: The Czech Republic.

The Czech Republic is the only country in the world where adult
citizens can legally use, possess and grow small quantities of
marijuana. (In the Netherlands, marijuana is quasi-legal -- not
officially legal.)

The Czech overall drug arrest rate is 1 per 100,000 population. The
United States' overall drug arrest rate is 585 per 100,000 population.

The Czech robbery rate is 2 per 100,000 population. The United
States' robbery rate is 160.2 per 100,000 population, according to
the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In other words, the Czech overall drug arrest rate is 1/585th of our
drug arrest rate and the Czech robbery rate is less than 1/72nd of
our robbery rate.

According to our drug-war cheerleaders, tolerant marijuana laws cause
people to use other, much more dangerous drugs, like methamphetamine
and heroin. Obviously, this doesn't happen in the Czech Republic.

Could it be that when people can legally obtain marijuana at an
affordable price, they tend not to use or desire any other
recreational drugs? Could it be that marijuana legalization actually
creates a roadblock to hard drug use - not a gateway?

Could it be that the vast majority our so-called "drug-related crime"
is caused by our marijuana prohibition policies?

Could it be that if we keep doing what we have been doing, we will
probably get the same results? Should we throw another trillion
dollars down the drug war rat hole? Or should we do something
different -- dramatically different?

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.