LET'S LEGALIZE NARCOTICS AND RUIN THE DEALERS

Some policies of the U.S. government over the past couple decades
bring the book "Idiocracy" to mind. To find out why, read Sunday's
Washington Post and you will learn that Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, across
the river from El Paso, is so dangerous that many of its business and
political leaders get tucked into bed every night in El Paso. That's
right, the community's elite are scared to stay in their hometown --
and, sadly, that makes sense.

There is a war ongoing in Juarez over control of illegal narcotics.
The president of Mexico is so alarmed over the death rate in this war
that he sent 10,000 army troops into Juarez and the police force was
overhauled too in an effort to regain control but all reports seem too
conclude the drug merchants are winning. In the past six months 2,500
people have been murdered in Juarez over the right to control the sale
of illegal drugs to the world's largest market for drugs -- the USA.
Juarez is only one port of entry; there are many others.

Billions of dollars are at stake and while Mexico is unlikely to
collapse over this war, it is not going well.

Take a glance south to Colombia. There the drug cartels have control
of the drug sales and large chunks of the country. The No. 1 customer?
You guessed it. Congratulations, America -- we're No. 1.

We are told that a big problem for our armed forces in Afghanistan is
that President Hamid Karsai's brother is a kingpin in the illegal drug
market. It is hard to rid one's country of corruption if one's brother
is a major drug trafficker.

I could go on -- Panama, Nicaragua and Guatemala, but you get the
drift. You know that the much heralded American "war on drugs" under
Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and other American administrations has
been a joke to brag to the law and order folks that we really care. We
don't. We have not made a dent in the demand for narcotics. Not a
dent. And with demand at an all-time high in the world's biggest
market, don't be surprised when reading about Juarez.

Pause for a moment and let's ask ourselves: If the United States
repealed the constitutional prohibition of alcohol in 1933, why were
people so smart back then and why are we so dumb now? From 1920 until
1933 the 18th Amendment had no impact on reducing the number of
drinkers. Indeed, my parents told me that Prohibition seemed to make
drinkers out of everyone. From Adam until today, the forbidden fruit
is the hardest to resist. Prohibition made billions of dollars for
organized crime. Al Capone controlled over 10,000 speakeasies by the
end of Prohibition. He bootlegged, sold booze and laughed at our law
enforcement efforts as organized crime took control of alcohol in America.

In state after state, prisons are full in part because of illegal
possession or sale of narcotics. The average cost per year per
prisoner is under $30,000, but not by much. Is there any wonder
governments are going broke?

Let's ruin organized crime -- let's get smart and legalize narcotics.
We can buy alcohol; we can smoke cigarettes; I think the time has
arrived to do something sensible. Let's make it possible, even
comfortable for leading citizens of Juarez to sleep in their own beds
in their own country. Let's imprison fewer people.