NATION NEEDS TO REFORM DRUG LAWS

Which does more harm to the individual and to society, drugs or the
prohibition of drugs? Some would have us believe that the only way to
stop America's drug problem is to lock up all the 'druggies' and throw
away the key.

People that have never used an illegal drug but favor drug law reform
are even classified 'druggies' because of their beliefs. America does
not have a drug problem, some American's have a drug problem.
Incarcerating people for choosing to use a substance that in some
cases is safer than legal, socially accepted drugs, often does more
harm than the drug itself.

Because of prohibition children find it easier to buy illegal drugs
than alcohol. They can go to almost any street corner in any town and
buy virtually any illicit substance they want. But if it's alcohol
thatthey desire they have to find someone over 21 willing to buy it
for them.

Don't let the federal drug warriors fool you, the people wanting
reform are not out to get your kids hooked. The only people looking
for more kids to sell drugs to are the dealers. They don't want drugs
legalized anyway, if that were to happen they would be out of a very
lucrative 'career.'

If America truly wants to address the drug issue Americans have got to
start finding alternatives to the $50 billion a year (state and
federal)failure known as the War on Drugs. Perhaps America does have a
drug problem, not with drug use, but with how we deal with drugs.
Prohibition fosters corruption at all levels. It has created huge
industries whose continued existence depends on America's insatiable
desire to lock up anyone who believes differently. Prisons have become
a for-profit industry that lobbies for stricter laws pertaining to
drugs and other consensual 'crimes.' The drug testing industry doesn't
want to see an end to this Nazi-style round up either because they too
would lose untold billions in future profits.

What else has drug prohibition done to America?

It has made criminal acts of things that are not. Nearly 700,000
people were arrested on marijuana charges in 1997, more than 80
percent of those for possession. Smoking marijuana is a consensual
act. Locking the users up doesn't get the dealers away from our
children. While all those 'pot-heads' were being thrown in jail for an
activity that is less dangerous than drinking a cup of coffee,
murderers, other violent criminals and sexual predators were released
back into to society so the 'druggies' could serve relatively harsh
sentences for a crime that had no victim.

I know some are going to say that the children or the 'druggies'
families are victims, but if the law didn't prohibit drugs fewer
adolescents would use them and more addicts could get help instead of
being thrown in jail.

70 million Americans have admitted to having tried marijuana some time
in their life. Most stop using in their late 20s or early 30s, unlike
tobacco which has a 95 percent addiction rate. Even those people who
don't stop are generally still productive members of society, pay
their taxes, and except for smoking marijuana, are honest law abiding
citizens. I guarantee everyone reading this knows someone who has
smoked marijuana, you just don't know it yet.

The drug war has done nothing but ruin lives, waste money, breed
corruption in law enforcement and foster a distrust of law
enforcement. It has also eroded our civil liberties to the point that
the federal government has been sued. To think that we can rid this
nation completely of drugs is a fantasy concocted to keep the drug war
machine rolling. If we really want to keep kids off of drugs and help
addicts clean themselves up, then we have got to reform our drug laws.

Brad Manzenberger
Terre Haute