A CLOSER LOOK AT THE FACTS

To the Editor:

Letter writer and teacher Nicole Lorusso misses the point about legalization.

She says "I will tell you I am saddened by the impact of marijuana on
the young adults in my school". No one arguing for legalization wants
kids to have access to marijuana, nor do we want pot vending machines
in schools.

Keeping kids off drugs is one of the major reasons for legalization.

Police can spend all their time keeping children off drugs as opposed
to the present reality where they spend most of our dollars keeping
adults off drugs - unsuccessfully at that.

The black market ensures not only that children are not asked for
i.d. when purchasing drugs but also ensures that many of the
traffickers are children.

One of the biggest reasons for abolishing alcohol prohibition in the
U.S. was that children were getting drunk on the way to school.
Classes were often dismissed as so many were drunk. The center of
the campaign to abolish alcohol prohibition in the U.S. was to "save
the children" who were being turned into alcoholics by myopic prohibitionists.

Once alcohol was legalized - presto - the problem of drunken school
children disappeared.

In view of this historical reality teacher Nicole Lorusso should
spend just a little more time brushing up on the history of
prohibition. Those who do not know their history are doomed to the
indignity of repeating the mistakes of the past.

Chuck Beyer

Port Alberni, B.C.