DISMANTLE WAR ON DRUGS

To the Editor of The Collegian:

I'm writing about Philip Reiser's thoughtful column: "Legalize it, end
a war".

The only way to effectively deal with the Mexican drug cartels is to
dismantle them same way we dismantled the alcohol cartels in 1933. Of
course, many drug war cheerleaders will proclaim that drug use and
abuse will skyrocket. In the Netherlands where marijuana has been
quasi legal for several decades, the Dutch use marijuana at less than
half the rate American's do. And they use heroin at less than a third
the rate American's do.

In 1994, Switzerland started an experimental program to sell heroin
addicts heroin at very low cost or even give it to the addicts who
couldn't afford it. In 2008, 68 percent of the Swiss voted to make the
program permanent. Have Swiss heroin addiction rates skyrocketed? No,
they have fallen dramatically. And so has their overall crime rate.

In 2001, Portugal abolished all criminal penalties for personal
possession of all drugs. Have the rates of drug use and abuse
skyrocketed in Portugal? No, they have fallen.

So why do we continue with our failed drug policies? Other than
because lots of people, organizations and industries have a vested
financial interest in continuing the status quo of drug
prohibition.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, AZ