GET THE FEDS OUT OF THE PROHIBITION BUSINESS

Re: William Dicker letter "Marijuana Monopoly" 23 June: Excellent
letter. It suggests we do what the 21st Amendment did: Get the feds out
of the prohibition business and let the individual states do as they choose.

The rub is that marijuana prohibition has become a lucrative industry
that alcohol prohibition never was. It enriches the careers, stock
portfolios, egos and campaign contributions of pot fighters. It is so
entrenched that the feds send money to fight drugs in 28 HIDTAs (High
Intensity Drug Fighting Areas) comprising "..approximately 60 percent
of the U.S. population," according to CNN this week.

Marijuana policy will change only when it becomes more painful for
Congress to stay the course than to change. This is what ended alcohol
prohibition in 1933 and ended tobacco's unfettered free market in the
mid-1990s. But I'm not holding my breath on marijuana.

John Chase

Palm Harbor