LAW PUTS MONEY IN THUGS' POCKETS

Dear Editor,

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 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 who thrive on the
addicted?

Mike Harvey, Langley