PULL RUG FROM UNDER DRUG TRAFFIC, CRIME

Re: "Tucson leads nation in rise of drug arrests," May 6.

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 crime rate
was a small fraction of what it currently is.

We once had such a situation 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.

Back then, did we have lots of people dying from recreational drugs?
No.

Back then, deaths from self-medicating and recreational drugs were
very rare. That's because all drugs were of known quality, purity and
potency - just the opposite of today's bootleg, black-market drugs.

For the sake of our children, can we relegalize our now-illegal drugs
and sell them in licensed business establishments? This would put the
drug dealers and drug lords out of business overnight.

Kirk Muse

Mesa