DECRIMINALIZE DRUGS

I agree that the near-fatal use of AMT by three Racine young persons was
scary. I hope that it was a warning that drug abuse can be
life-threatening. However, making AMT illegal is also quite scary-and
totally ineffective.

If AMT is banned from the Internet, it will be sold by drug dealers on the
streets, who will reap increased profits as with poisoned "bathtub gin"
during alcohol prohibition and dealers of illegal substances have no
incentive to prove their quality or safety. Decriminalizing AMT and other
drugs would permit reputable pharmaceutical firms to manufacture and sell them.

This would mean consistent dosage standards along with accurate information
about benefits and side effects. Drug prohibition has encouraged the usage
of AMT, LSD, and Ecstasy. These drugs give a few more intense high than
marijuana or cocaine with far more unpredictable results. What is
especially scary is that The Journal Times, our politicians, and these
young people believe that making AMT illegal would have stopped them from
purchasing it over the Internet, or anywhere else. They were intent on
acquiring party drugs to use with their friends. There is no guarantee that
they would have avoided this tragic brush with death, if they had used
Ecstasy instead of AMT. The moral of this scary tale is to end the
nightmare of drug prohibition, and for party goers to show common sense and
personal responsibility before they seek a "high" from drugs which lowers
them six feet under.

Keith R. Deschler

Libertarian Party of Racine/Kenosha

32241/2 Meachem Road