MAKING DRUGS LEGAL SEEMS LIKE A WEAK ARGUMENT TO KEEP KIDS SAFE

Every time a Detroit kid is killed while giggling in the family car or
munching Cheetos, somebody floats this question: why not just abandon the
war on drugs?

After all, turf battles between rival drug gangs are a major reason Detroit
kids are being murdered. So why not legalize drugs and shut down the gangs?

Why not take the profit out of dealing drugs the same way we took the
profit out of bootlegging whiskey by repealing Prohibition? Why not treat
drug addiction purely as a medical problem and stop locking away users and
dealers?

Also, why not make sure addicts receive clean needles and other drug
paraphernalia so they'll be less likely to spread AIDS or other diseases?
In short, why not stop fighting a war we can't win because people always
will crave and consume drugs?

Sounds tempting, doesn't it? Throw in the syringe. Walk away from an
endless and winless struggle. Let people snort, smoke or shoot up whatever
they want.

But just a minute, ladies and gentlemen. You're moving a little too fast
for me. How about sharing a few specifics. How about letting me in on your
game plan.

First, I'd like to know if you want to legalize all drugs, including
heroin, hash, mescaline, peyote, speed, LSD, PCP, ice and dozens of others?
Or would you only legalize relatively benign drugs, such as marijuana?

Would these legal drugs also be free or at least low-cost? Seems to me
they'd have to be. Yet how would you justify giving free or low-cost drugs
to addicts when many disabled folks or senior citizens can barely afford to
get their drug prescriptions filled?

Could addicts get as much as they wanted or only two or three hits a day?
When would you turn off the tap? And what happens when jittery or even
hallucinating addicts start demanding drugs such as crack cocaine every
half hour? Would the streets where they live be safer? Perhaps. However, I
don't think I'd want to walk on them.

Legalizing drugs also might spawn some legal questions. Could relatives of
drug users sue health agencies if their loved ones died of
government-approved drugs?

Meanwhile, what would become of America's already fractured families if
more and more babies were born hooked on drugs and grew up in households
where everybody stayed high?

Help me out, please. I'm not some sheltered bleeding heart. I've seen and
smelled the devastation caused by drugs. I know about the wasted talents,
the diminished dreams, the early graves.

Still, is it really a good idea to make it easier for more people to give
up on life? If we do, what will become of our arts, our science, our
country? Terrorists are already among us, searching for our weak spots.

It seems to me that Americans need to be more vigilant, more alert and more
conscious than ever, not lost in a drug haze.

But maybe I'm wrong. If so, tell me why? Hammer me with your arguments.
Give me specifics. Make me believe, if you can, that legalizing drugs would
help end the killing of Detroit kids and other problems without creating
troubling new ones.