READER REACTS TO ALCOHOL LETTER

Dear Editor,

I am writing in response to last Thursday's letter, headed "Legal alcohol
is like prostitution." The writer of this letter argues that it would be
hypocritical to condone the sale of alcoholic beverages without also
condoning the sale of "marijuana, meth, cocaine, etc."

I quite agree with this sentiment, and concede the point that legitimizing
an already thriving local drug traffic by collecting taxes and licensing
fees would be fiscally expedient, but, since alcohol is legal in this
country and the other drugs listed are not, we in Albertville cannot
realistically hope to achieve such a goal.

In light of the statistical fact that the "number one drug problem" facing
our nation today is not alcohol, as this letter states, but tobacco,
perhaps we should approach the problem from the opposite direction, and
enforce a citywide prohibition on all tobacco products as well as
alcohol--like they do in Iran, for example. Of course, we will need
checkpoints on every road leading into town, so we can conduct extensive
searches of all vehicles and their occupants, or else people might try to
smuggle in their "cancer-sticks" from Guntersville or Sardis. I have heard
rumors that some Albertvillians already do this with bottles and six-pack
cans, hidden away in ordinary grocery sacks.

As a non-smoker who does not drink, aside from the occasional morning beer,
I do not especially mind paying Guntersville taxes on products I will
consume in Albertville. But I confess I would feel a bit safer if my
neighbor, who might run out of booze and still have the shakes, and who
tends to drive across my yard even when sober, had a liquor store within
walking distance.

It is true, of course, that alcohol addiction causes incalculable pain and
suffering for the addict and his or her loved ones, and I do not mean to
make light of that.

But alcohol abuse is a medical problem and will only be solved by increased
access to treatment and recovery programs: it will not yield to
self-righteous moralizing and silly laws that simply make drinkers drive
further for supplies, at the expense of the greater, non-alcoholic community.

As for the other "evils" of gambling and prostitution addressed in this
letter, I agree: let Albertville take the lead, and full speed ahead! Would
the governor be interested in a statewide lottery to fund higher education?

Perhaps now is the time. A lottery will not solve every problem we have
but, coupled with a tax on legalized prostitution, for gays and straights
alike, it might be a step in the right direction.

Legalize it? Heck, yes. Legalize it and supersize it!

Stephen Johnson

Albertville