BANS DON'T WORK

M. MARTIN (Don't go soft on cannabis, 10/12) should remember that it was
her organisation, the Women's Christian Temperance Union, that was
responsible for the disaster known as alcohol prohibition in the United
States. Alcohol prohibition corrupted all levels of our government, from
the cops on the beat to the highest levels of our administrations. People
didn't stop buying and drinking alcohol. They just stopped buying alcohol
from legal, regulated sources. The bootleg alcohol was of unknown quality,
purity and potency and resulted in needless blindings and deaths.

When our alcohol prohibition ended in 1933, the US murder rate declined for
10 consecutive years. So far, we in the US have not learnt any lessons from
this experience. Our drug prohibition policies of today are essentially
doing the same thing. Drug prohibition has transformed the former land of
liberty into the most incarcerated nation in history.

My advice to Australia and the rest of the world: carefully observe US drug
policy - then do the opposite. Don't follow us - we're lost.

KIRK MUSE

Mesa,AZ USA