DRUG WAR LOST CAUSE

To the Editor:

We are losing the war on drugs.

Prohibition from 1920 to 1933 did not decrease alcohol consumption. It
did, however, create a criminal class who illegally imported,
manufactured and distributed alcohol.

Prohibition of heroin, marijuana and cocaine has not decreased their
consumption. Since the 1970 Comprehensive Drug Abuse And Control Act,
the use of these drugs has steadily increased.

In 1981, U.S. prisons held about 400,000 inmates. According to the Pew
Center, this April there were about 1.4 million people under the
jurisdiction of state prison authorities. This increase is caused in
large part by nonviolent drug-related offenses.

The government's drug policy is expensive, and causes much evil. The
government policy makes criminals out of users; addicts are forced to
steal because of the high price of street drugs; children are
introduced to drugs on the playground. Directly and indirectly, we
contribute to drug wars in Mexico, Colombia and many other countries.
When we made alcohol legal in 1933 a huge criminal element
disappeared. Would not the same thing happen if we made heroin,
marijuana and cocaine legal?

You cannot stop people from buying a product they want.

Eric Adamshick

Woodstock