CONGRATULATIONS TO SOARES FOR SPEAKING OUT

It would seem like the only thing more dangerous than possessing
small quantities of drugs is speech designed to provoke an
intelligent discussion about drug policy.

You won't get that from Albany Police Chief James Tuffey or Albany
County Sheriff James Campbell or, I'm afraid, from the Times Union.
The mere suggestion that the violence inherent in drug prohibition
has parallels to that of alcohol prohibition, or that the prohibition
inflates the cost of drugs, which leads to the commission of crime
for their purchase, immediately brings forth denunciation of the speaker.

I wonder how many prominent and influential people are silenced on
this issue, intimidated by the political correctness and the hysteria
over the fearful dangers to their children.

Wake up! The drug war is a failure; the very things you fear are here
and they are made worse, driven by the "war on drugs."

I'm sure thousands of people know this be true, but unless hundreds
speak out, the dozens with the courage to do so will be drowned out
by those who fear an honest debate.

Congratulations to David Soares for speaking out. May he not be intimidated.

WILLIAM P. McMILLEN, Libertarian Party Chairman, Albany Chapter