GOOD OL' DAYS

Re “Obamajuana” by R.V. Scheide (SN&R Race to the Bottom, November
6):

Kudos to R.V. Scheide for this outstanding column. We need to imagine
what it would be like without drug prohibition.

Imagine if the United States was once again the “Land of the Free”
instead of the most incarcerated nation in the history of human
civilization. Imagine if the American people could feel safe and
secure in their own homes and on the streets of our cities and towns
throughout America. Imagine if we had no “drug-related crime.” Imagine
if our overall crime rate was a small fraction of our current crime
rate.

We once had such a situation here in the United States. Prior to the
passage of the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914, the term “drug-related
crime” didn’t exist. Drug lords, drug cartels or even drug dealers, as
we know them today, didn’t exist either. Back then, all types of
recreational drugs were legally sold to anybody with no questions
asked for pennies per dose in grocery stores and pharmacies.

Did we have a lot more drug addicts then compared to now? No. We had
about the same percentage of our population addicted to drugs,
according to U.S. federal Judge John L. Kane of Colorado.

For the sake of our children, can we relegalize our now-illegal drugs
and sell them licensed business establishments? This would put the
drug dealers and drug lords out of business overnight.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.