DON'T LEGALIZE DOPE

Terry Michael's column ("Legalize drugs," Op-Ed, July 24) and three
letters to the editor on Thursday all titled "Legalize drugs" try to
make the point that the nation would be better off if it just
legalized drugs. But that idea is dangerous and preposterous given the
evidence we have today of the influence that mind-altering and
addictive substances have in destroying children, families, schools
and communities.

Currently, drugs directly cause about 3,000 overdose deaths each
month, according to the latest estimates from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. That is the equivalent of the deaths on
September 11 occurring every month year in and year out. Legalizing
drugs would drive that horrific statistic much higher.

Good examples of the actual harm drug legalization causes are found in
cities such as Washington and Baltimore. Former Mayors Marion Barry
(convicted on drug charges) and Kurt Schmoke (supported drug
decriminalization), of D.C. and Baltimore respectively, both presided
over cities which now boast among the highest levels of crime, drug
addiction and overdose deaths in the entire nation.

What the nation really needs is not legalization of drugs but
legalization of universal health screening of children for drugs by
the proven drug-prevention strategy of random student drug testing
(RSDT) for therapeutic purposes only. As in the military services,
business and government agencies that use random drug testing, schools
that use RSDT also have virtually eliminated drug use.

Legalizing mind-altering and addictive illegal drugs is dead
wrong.

DEFOREST RATHBONE

Chairman

National Institute of Citizen Anti-drug Policy

Great Falls, Va.