SCARE TACTIC

If drugs were legalized tomorrow, would you use cocaine? Would your
next-door neighbor begin cooking meth? Mark Woodward ( Your Views,
June 30 ), spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and
Dangerous Drugs Control, seems to be trying to scare us into thinking
this would happen. I wonder if he and his colleagues are afraid of
losing their jobs? They need not fear. If drugs were legalized and
controlled, meth would be manufactured in an OSHA-approved and
inspected facility. Cocaine would be sold in licensed drug
stores. Bus, train and truck drivers and airline pilots would be
required to prove that their performance isn't degraded, by
submitting to performance tests. And just as parents teach their
kids not to play with dangerous household cleaning products, parents
would be teaching their children not to play with drugs. As for
Woodard and most of his comrades, they would merely have to turn in
their guns and would probably be reassigned to a different government agency.

Richard Prawdzienski

Edmond