LEGALIZE POT TO FIGHT CRIME

(Re: “A fine to fit the crime,” cover story, June 4.) 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 we
had no “drug-related crime.” Imagine if our overall crime rate was a
small fraction of our current one. Can you imagine that we once had such
a situation here in the United States?

Prior to the passing of the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914, the term
“drug-related crime” didn’t exist. Drug lords, drug cartels and even
drug dealers as we know them today also didn’t exist.

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 re-legalize our now-illegal drugs
and sell them at licensed business establishments? This would put the
drug dealers and drug lords out of business overnight.

Kirk Muse
Mesa, Ariz.