PROHIBITION NOT THE ANSWER FOR DRUGS

Editor:

This is being addressed to more knowledgeable, more intelligent people
than me. I should like to know why the sale of drugs is not legalized.
I am not now and have never been a drug user, thank goodness, but I
admit to having used alcohol to excess in my younger days.

During prohibition in the United States the sale of booze flourished
and the underworld grew wealthy. People who wished to drink were
determined to do so. Kingpins like Al Capone waxed wealthy by
supplying the product that the public wanted.

How does this situation differ from the present day drug trade? People
who are addicted to drugs will get it by whatever means possible. The
entire drug economy from top to bottom is a festering sore with those
at the top of the pyramid practically immune from prosecution, while
the lower echelons battle it out in grotesque killings, beatings and
intimidation.

What is sadder still is that these monsters in the lower echelons do
whatever is necessary in their power to enhance their sales by
enticing youngsters into their milieu.

People who wish to use drugs will do so. Wouldn't it be better if they
could go to a government run institution to obtain their needs?
Wouldn't this eliminate those unsavoury characters that thrive on the
addicted? If this is not so, will some knowledgeable person tell me
why?

Mike Harvey, Langley