19 NOT PERFECT

Editor: Re: Sun-Star's editorial Monday, "Want legal pot? Prop. 19 isn't
the way."

Opinions abound on this topic: lawmakers, the U.S. drug czar,
President Obama, California's Board of Equalization, yours and pot
proponents.

I suggest we look instead at facts; the history of the 20th
century.

Quantcast The unfettered free market for tobacco (prior to about 1965)
offered a recreational drug but caused widespread disease and death.
Conversely, the prohibition of alcohol (1920-1933) reduced
alcohol-related diseases but enabled a violent, corrupting, illegal
market.

Today's regulation of both drugs is arguably too loose for alcohol,
too tight for tobacco but both better than they once were.

Proposition 19 is not perfect but moves in the right direction. It
will also bring pressure on Beltway politicians for a more rational
policy.

John Chase

Palm Harbor, Fla.