END DRUG WAR, CURTAIL VIOLENCE ON OUR STREETS

Approximately 20 years ago I went to a meeting of the League of Women
voters on crime. I went with the solution of ending the prohibition on
drugs. The Peoria police chief's solution, among others', was to get
tougher on crime.

About two years ago there was another meeting on crime at the Lariat
Steakhouse with all of the powers that be. I had to interrupt the
meeting in the end to even speak. We got the same get-tough-on-crime
rhetoric, and look what we have.

Fast forward to today, and there are more murders than ever, with
innocent people in the crossfire. We are all at risk and unsafe. Just
driving through the wrong end of town might get you shot! Turn the
pages of daily newspapers and read the stories about the very ugly
change in Mexico's drug war. Get tougher? Is this where we are headed?

In a real drug war in Mexico, heads roll across dance room floors,
bodies dangle from bridges, there are car bombs. Officials and police
are killed frequently. Businesses close early to avoid the gangs who
threaten them. Ambulance drivers and emergency room doctors come under
fire from gang members trying to finish off wounded rivals.

In our city people already avoid opening businesses and are constantly
at risk of being robbed and killed just doing business. The police who
beg for more police, and the newspaper that gets to print all of the
sensationalism, are the profiteers of prohibition. If prohibition were
to end, maybe the Journal Star would have more advertisers, not
shootouts over turf, and maybe people would no longer avoid Peoria.

Again, prohibition does not and will not work. If we look to the past
we have an exact example of how to solve our crime problem. Why do
voters keep calling for the government to do what we know does not
work? I am not saying Peoria can end prohibition, but they can start
the call and let us all live in peace.

I am a person who uses no drugs and believes in both freedom and
safety in America. Call your local mayor. Call the governor. Voice
your opinion to end prohibition or continue to pay and live in fear!

Greg James

Mossville