DRUG PROHIBITION DOESN'T STOP DRUG USE

We shouldn't be surprised by the arrest of the corrections officer for
dealing drugs ("Corrections officer faces drug charges" on Nov. 22).

Drug prohibition has corrupted all levels of government. From the cops on
the beat and our prison guards to the highest levels of our government.
Just as alcohol prohibition did during our grandfathers' era.

Alcohol prohibition was terminated, not because our government decided that
alcohol was not so bad after all, but because of the corruption and the
crime it caused.

We found out that prohibition was counterproductive. Prohibition didn't
stop people from buying alcohol. It just stopped people from buying alcohol
from legal, regulated sources.

Drug prohibition doesn't stop people who want drugs from buying drugs. It
just stops people from buying the drugs from legal, regulated sources.

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.