FOLLOW THE CZECHS

I'm writing about Tina Imdieke's March 16 letter, "Meth bill long
overdue." Keeping the ingredients of meth behind pharmacy counters
will substantially reduce the amateur meth labs, but it won't reduce
meth use or solve our nation's drug problems. We should model the
drug policies of another nation with little or no drug problem. I
suggest that we model the Czech Republic's drug policies.

The Czech Republic is the only nation in the world where adult
citizens can legally use, possess and grow small quantities of
marijuana. The Czech Republic overall drug arrest rate is 1 per
100,000 population. The United States overall drug arrest rate is 585
per 100,000 population. The Czech robbery rate is 2 per 100,000
population. The United States robbery rate is 145.9 per 100,000
population, according to the FBI.

According to our drug war cheerleaders, tolerant marijuana laws cause
people to use other, much more dangerous drugs, like meth and heroin.

Obviously, this doesn't happen in the Czech Republic. Why not? Could
it be that when people can legally obtain marijuana at an affordable
price, they tend not to use or desire any other recreational drugs?
Could it be that marijuana legalization actually creates a roadblock
to hard drug use not a gateway?

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.