BETTER CHOICES

Let me suggest an additional set of alternatives to those proposed by
letter writer Bailey Geeslin.

We know that drugs are not going to go away. They have been with us
since the beginning of time, and they will be with us until our
great-great grandchildren are dead and gone.

In the history of the earth, there has perhaps been only one drug-free
society. That was the Eskimos, and the only reason was because they
couldna=80TMt produce any drugs in that climate.

Everywhere else, people love their drugs a=80" as shown by the beer that
flows at football games. According to the United Nations, illegal
drugs account for about 8 percent of total world trade.

There are only three choices for who will sell those
drugs:

1. Government, with proper regulations and taxes to address social
problems.

2. Private businesses, with proper regulations and taxes to address
social problems.

3. Organized crime, with no regulations or taxes to address social
problems.

We have chosen organized crime to run this trade. Whatever the
problems may be, either of the other choices would be better.

Regulation and control is a better solution than handing billions to
organized crime.

Clifford A. Schaffer,

Agua Dulce, Calif.

Director, Marijuana Business News