DRUG POLICY: SEEING THROUGH THE CLOUD OF SMOKE

Nearly 20 years ago I wrote a page-one story in the Journal about the
drug-related death of my 16-year-old son, Ryan. It is sad to see the
same tired old names and groups making the same, tired old arguments
for drug legalization in the Journal recently. To say that "no one has
ever died from marijuana" is like saying nobody ever died from
cigarettes because cigarette smokers don't overdose on tobacco.

While my son was killed when he ran into traffic after using LSD, his
dependence on pot is what led to his death. What I wrote in 1989 is
still true: "Every day my heart breaks a little more."

To believe that legalizing drugs would slash crime and violence is a
pipe dream. Does anyone really think that the thugs and killers in the
drug trade would suddenly become law-abiding insurance salesmen?
Certainly drug addiction should be treated as a health problem. But it
makes no sense to expand the availability of drugs that kill and, more
often, destroy the futures of tens of thousands of young people every
year.

Ronald G. Shafer

Leesburg, Va.