JUST REGULATE DRUGS

Editor: I'm writing about Mike Langan's
thoughtful letter: "End phony drug war" ( 7-13-07
). If we re-legalized all our illegal drugs so
that they could be sold by licensed and regulated
businesses for pennies per dose, would this eliminate our drug problems? No.

However, doing so would substantially reduce the crime rate and
dramatically increase public safety.

Will we ever be able to eliminate our drug problems?
No.

However, we can substantially reduce the harm caused by our illegal
drugs. Regulated and controlled drugs would be of known purity, known
potency and known quality -- which would make them much safer than
black-market drugs.

But what message would we send to children if we legalized all illegal
drugs so they could be sold in licensed, regulated and taxed business
establishments? The same message we send to children today when we
allow products such as alcohol and tobacco to be sold in licensed,
regulated and taxed business establishments.

A free country's government cannot protect its adult citizens from
themselves. A free country's government has no right to attempt to do
so.

KIRK MUSE

Mesa, Ariz.