DRUG PROHIBITION USELESS

The Aug. 26 editorial "With drugs, is jail best?" should have gone a
step further and advocated for the legalization of heroin and other
dangerous drugs. Drugs, like alcohol, are dangerous, and therefore
need to be regulated by the government - not outlawed, thereby being
left to criminals to control purity levels.

We should have learned through alcohol prohibition that banning a
dangerous and mind-altering substance that people want to consume
doesn't work, and leads to many more problems than the substance itself.

Another common fallacy folks have about the war on drugs is that all
use is abuse. Of course, there are those who abuse drugs and alcohol,
but there also are those who use these substances responsibly.

The Swiss have had tremendous success with their heroin maintenance
program. They give addicts free heroin and have been able to reduce
the spread of disease and crime associated with addiction.

By treating addiction via the criminal justice system, both the
taxpayers and addicts lose. We can and should legalize these
substances, regulate them and tax them in licensed facilities that
also can provide information on quitting or seeking help.

I've had two friends die this summer from overdose deaths. It is
terrible that we can have billboards and a culture promoting alcohol
use, but we still deem people who use "illegal" drugs as worthy of
imprisonment and punishment. The war on drugs has failed just like
alcohol prohibition failed. Now is the time to legalize, regulate and
tax all intoxicating substances.

Dan Linn

Chicago