NEW APPROACH NEEDED TO DRUG LAWS

Our 40-year "war on drugs" has had little impact on the problem,
despite the tens of billions of dollars per year cost of policing,
trying, jailing and burying those involved. We must take the profit
motive out of the illegal drug trade by providing drugs to users at
little or no expense. Such a program would cost a fraction of our
failed policies, even if state or national drug rehabilitation
programs accompanied the change. It is true that those who overdose
from drug abuse today may continue to do so under the new plan.
However, without the profit motive, it would certainly not take us 40
years to pass through that unfortunate time to a saner, cleaner and
healthier new era.

The chain of illegal drug manufacturing and recruitment of new
addicts would break down. The vast sums of money being funneled by
the drug trade into crime and terrorism would be reduced by orders of
magnitude, saving additional financial and spiritual costs. The
muggings, home break-ins, destroyed families and shattered children
that are so ruinous would shrink as well.

Our current approach just does not work; we should try legalization.
It's hard to imagine that we'd be worse off.

Stan Nachman, Asheville