Bad Laws Discredit Law, Law Makers

Never have I read a column which so convincingly urged the end of the
socalled war on drugs as Russ Moritz's column of June 15 ("Unnecessary
as it is unwinnable; Sue for peace," Street Level).

I grew up in the small town of Mayville, Wis. At the time of World War
I, approximately 90 percent of Mayville's population was of German
ancestry. The citizens were conservative, with a strong belief in law
and order. They did consider beer a part of their diet.

With the passage of the Volstead Act, over a presidential veto, the two
breweries in the town closed down their facilities. But men like Al
Capone were soon leading groups willing to supply the need for beer and
hard liquor that had been either produced in illicit stills or brought
across the Canadian border in highpowered vehicles.

The result of this bad law was a disregard of it by those who would not
have their ageold customs defined by edicts of the federal government.
Distrust of that government by citizens who before WW I had been
entirely loyal eventually led to a lessening of respect by all in the
wisdom of our legislators.

Fred J. Meyer
Coulee Dam, WA