DID WE LEARN NOTHING FROM PROHIBITION ERA?

Mary O'Grady argues that we will never eradicate drug use. One wonders
what other vices Ms. O'Grady proposes we surrender to. Child abuse?
Spousal abuse? Rape? We may never eradicate any of these crimes
either, but that doesn't mean that we simply give up on them.

Not coincidentally, by the way, all of those crimes, and many others,
are frequently linked to drug and alcohol abuse. It's a tired old
canard that drug abuse is a victimless crime.

Furthermore, where is the evidence that legalizing and taxing a
substance causes organized crime to disappear? It sure didn't after
Prohibition -- criminals just no longer focused on alcohol. Unless
everything is legalized, including cocaine and heroin, of course the
thugs would merely move to the more potent substances. Where does it
end?

Rep. Mark Souder (R., Ind.)

Fort Wayne, Ind.

(Rep. Souder is chairman of the House Drug Policy Subcommittee and
co-chairman of the Speaker's Drug Task Force.)