PROHIBITION NEVER WORKS

Re: "Tobacco crackdown" (Gazette, April 8).

Alcohol prohibition was a long and costly failure that did little more
than promote violence and corruption. The War on Drugs being waged in
Canada and the United States is costing billions of dollars yearly,
increasing profit margins for criminal suppliers, financing terrorism,
clogging our prison system, and ruining people's lives by burdening
them with criminal records that can be much harder to overcome than
any addiction. Neither of these repressive prohibitions was successful
in eliminating consumption.

Now our governments are attempting a de-facto prohibition on tobacco
by imposing absurd taxes and banning smoking almost everywhere. It
would appear that the motto of our elected representatives is "live
and don't learn."

Daniel Romano

Citizens Against Government Encroachment

Montreal