Phyllis Nuber of River Edge suffered every parent's worst nightmare
("Legalizing drugs is not the answer," Your Views, March 5), and I
offer her my sincere sympathy.

It's this very circumstance, however, that should compel her to shout
the loudest for legalizing drugs. With legalization would come
regulation, probably under the auspices of the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), with methods borrowed perhaps from
traffic, gambling, and prostitution regulators.

The methadone model would serve to preclude overdose, manufacture
would be overseen by Food and Drug Administration watchdogs, and rehab
facilities with clean needles would be available.

If all of this sounds coddling or too left-wing liberal, consider that
we are all living the alternative, and it has never worked. We are
still learning the lesson of Prohibition - crime pays - and the cost
is astronomical. We all know this.

There are qualified people to treat those in need, and their arsenal
contains none of the following: handcuffs, guns, black robes, cell
keys, and cattle prods. When we finally learn that addiction, like
alcoholism, is a medical condition, not simply a breakdown of
discipline, then we can rework our system and turn a giant tax drain
into a tax contributor.

Wally Jeffs Closter,
March 11