PUT DRUG DEALERS OUT OF BUSINESS

I'm writing in response to your editorial: "Making more room in
prisons." (4-6-08). Imagine if the United States was once again the
"Land of the Free" instead of the most incarcerated nation in the
history of human civilization.

Imagine if the American people could feel safe and secure in their own
homes and on the streets of our cities and towns throughout America.

Imagine if we had no "drug-related crime." Imagine if our overall
crime rate was a small fraction of our current crime rate. We once had
such a situation here in the United States. Prior to the passage of
the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914, the term "drug-related crime"
didn't exist.

And drug lords, drug cartels or even drug dealers as we know them
today, didn't exist either. Back then, all types of recreational drugs
were legally sold to anybody with no questions asked, for pennies per
dose in grocery stores and pharmacies.

Did we have a lot more drug addicts then compared to now? No. For the
sake of our children, can we re-legalize our now illegal drugs and
sell them in licensed business establishments? This would put the
street drug dealers out of business overnight.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, AZ