. FOUND IN PROHIBITION

Your article completely misidentifies the problem of relating drugs to
crime and violence. Drugs are not the cause of violence. Drug
prohibition is. During America's flirtation with banning alcohol,
murder and mayhem followed the alcohol trade.

Do we still have problems today with people's behavior under the
influence of alcohol? Of course. But we use the police to deal with
the minority of problem alcohol users, not everyone who ever had a
drink.

If you want to seriously address the violence, legalization and
regulation to keep all drug use as safe and responsible as possible
are the only ways. Eliminate the profits of prohibition and replace it
with a regime of tax and regulation and punishment only for
irresponsible use.

The violence will vanish, just as it did when Prohibition
ended.

Derek Britz, Dallas