FLAWED DRUG HISTORY

You are right, Mr. Givens, I do not remember Prohibition. I can
remember gas when it was 23 cents per gallon and cigarettes when they
were 17 cents a pack in the post exchange. And I can remember when
mothers with young children could not buy formula or diapers on credit
at the commissary but their husbands could buy all the booze and
cigarettes they wanted on credit at the post exchange. And I can
remember when sailors could light up in closed quarters aboard ships
and submarines, and nonsmokers just had to put up with it.

So you see, Mr. Givens, while I don't remember Prohibition, I am older
than dirt.

I have attended many forums concerning drug laws and have spoken at a
few. At one such forum, a man of average height stood up and
announced: "I am 38 years old, I have been smoking pakalolo every day
since I was 13 years of age, and I am the best basketball player that
I know." My response: "Either you do not know anyone, or you are
living proof that marijuana causes delusions."

Mr. Givens, your statement that the drug laws in this country were
enacted when "addicts worked regular jobs, raised decent families and
were indistinguishable from teetotalers. There were no drug gangs and
no international cartels and no real problem with drug addiction," is
an equally delusional statement and totally unsupported by historical
fact.

Prohibition was way ahead of its time because there were too many
drinkers in this country. In 1960, if our elected officials had
decided to ban cigarette smoking in public buildings and restaurants
and bars, in prisons, and aboard ships, those laws, like Prohibition,
would have failed. They certainly appear to be succeeding today.

In 1604, King James I published "Counterblaste to Tobacco," in which
he warned his subjects to ignore the blandishments of many that
smoking tobacco would ward off smallpox, influenza and the plague. He
said that common sense should tell them that inhaling stinking smoke
into their lungs would be injurious to their health. Four hundred
years later, we are still dealing with the human misery caused by tobacco.

Common sense should tell everyone that inhaling stinking smoke --
whether it be from tobacco, marijuana, methamphetamine or cocaine --
is bad for your health.

Yes, if all drugs were legal, it is true their would be no "drug
crimes." And if their were no tax laws, there would be no tax crimes.
If there were no social welfare programs, there would be no welfare
fraud. The list is endless. It is the duty of our elected officials to
protect public health when they can. Reasonable people can differ
about whether a particular sentence in a particular case is reasonable
or not. No one can successfully argue that legalizing every drug known
to mankind is the cure for all the ills in society.

Rick Damerville

Hilo