DRUG PROHIBITION CAUSES CRIME

I'm writing about "Drug epidemic plagues area" (April 14-20 TRRT).

I'd like to add that almost all the problems we have with illegal
drugs are because the drugs are illegal. Because certain (politically
selected) drugs are illegal, they are of unknown quality, unknown
purity and unknown potency. This is the cause of most of the deaths
from illegal drugs.

Because certain drugs are illegal, they are unregulated, untaxed and
controlled by criminal gangs. Just like alcohol was when it was illegal.

Many prison wardens and judges have said that 70 to 90 percent of all
violent crime and property crime is "drug-related." Actually, almost
100 percent of our so-called "drug-related crime" is caused by our
drug prohibition policies-not drugs.

When all types of recreational drugs were legally sold in local
pharmacies for pennies per dose, the term "drug-related crime" didn't
exist. Neither did drug lords, drug cartels or even drug dealers as we
know them today.

Drugs don't cause crime; drug prohibition causes crime.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.