STOP THE MADNESS

I'm writing about Hannah Naiditch's outstanding column "No more
prisons" (May 30).

Imagine if we had no "drug-related crime." Imagine if our overall
crime rate was a small fraction of our current crime rate.

We once had such a situation here in the United States. Prior to the
passage of the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914, the term "drug-related
crime" didn't exist. And drug lords, drug cartels or even drug dealers
as we know them today didn't exist either.

Back then, all types of recreational drugs were legally sold to
anybody with no questions asked, for pennies per dose in grocery
stores and pharmacies. Did we have a lot more drug addicts then
compared to now?

No. We had about the same percentage of our population addicted to
drugs, according to federal Judge John L. Kane of Colorado.

For the sake of our children, can we re-legalize our now illegal drugs
and sell them through licensed business establishments? This would put
the drug dealers and drug lords out of business overnight.

KIRK MUSE

Mesa, AZ.