DRUG PROHIBITION A FAILURE

The Rev. Howard Brown, who saw one son murdered and another shot in
the North Lawndale neighborhood, was quoted in the Sun-Times
("Lawndale's 'murder game,' "Aug. 3): "Drugs are out there and all
that. As long as there's that, there will be violence and killing.
It's a murder game."

He is absolutely right. As long as gangs continue their turf wars over
drugs, nothing will change. The prohibition of alcohol spawned crime
just as the prohibition of drugs does now. Fortunately, we had the
wisdom to put an end to alcohol prohibition. Until we allow the
government to regulate and tax drugs (in other words, to legalize them
and take the profit away from the gangs), we should not expect an end
to the "murder game."

Jeff Robertson,

Orland Hills