HAVE WE LEARNED?

To the editor:

I'm writing about your thoughtful editorial: "The new moonshine," of
Sept. 5.

During the 1960s, I worked for the federal government, and several of
my co-workers used amphetamines known as "mini-bennies" or "whites."
When these products were made illegal, the meth of today was reborn.

Today's meth labs are very similar to the illegal distilleries of the
era known as the "Noble Experiment." During our alcohol-Prohibition
era, thousands died and thousands went blind or were crippled for life
from what was then known as "bathtub gin."

Like the meth of today, "bathtub gin" was easily made from household
or industrial products. Like the meth of today, illegal alcohol could
be manufactured just about anywhere.

Like the meth of today, Prohibition-era alcohol was of unknown purity
and unknown potency.

When alcohol prohibition ended in 1933, almost 100 percent of the
"bathtub gin" producers went out of business for economic reasons.

When alcohol prohibition ended, our overall crime rate declined
substantially and our murder rate declined for 10 consecutive years.
Have we learned any lessons? Not yet.

Kirk Muse,

Mesa, Ariz.