METH LABS SIMILAR TO PROHIBITION'S DISTILLERIES

I'm writing about your cover story, "Tweaker Town" (Dec. 4). 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
taken off the legitimate market and 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 and
industrial products. Like the meth of today, "bathtub gin" was a product
created by Prohibition. Like the meth of today, illegal alcohol could be
manufactured just about anywhere. Like the meth of today, Prohibition-era
alcohol was of unknown quality, unknown potency and unknown purity.

When Prohibition ended in 1933, almost 100 percent of "bathtub gin"
producers went out of business for economic reasons, and they have stayed
out of the business for economic reasons. When alcohol prohibition ended in
1933, the U.S. murder rate declined for 10 consecutive years. Have we
learned any lessons?

Not yet.

- --Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.