LEGALIZE AND TAX DRUGS

I find the recent letter "Economics 101" (Letters, March 31)
problematic. This person has such a jaded, incorrect view of our world
that I find it disturbing.

Under the guise of teaching economics to readers of the Tribune, this
letter writer suggests we should make drug offenses a capital crime.
Most people know the death penalty is a bad deal for taxpayers. While
it's certainly not cheap to keep a person incarcerated in Florida,
forcing the death penalty is more costly. In a historical reference we
know prohibition of alcohol did not work, and now after 30-plus years
of the war on drugs, some people still don't realize it doesn't work.

If you want to save money, it's easy. Legalize drugs. First of all you
would not be jailing in the neighborhood of 20,000 inmates in
Florida's prisons. At about $22,000 per year to house each inmate, you
do the math. Half-a-billion dollars is a bit of money. Then, let's
figure in the tax money that could be brought in from the sale of
marijuana. All of a sudden the budget shortfall looks a lot smaller.
There is a look at the real Economics 101.

F. M. Younglove

Brandon