LEGALIZING DRUGS NOT ANSWER

Re: The letter "Decriminalization Of Drugs" (A-J, 9-4).

I am sometimes amused and always amazed that people can lack the critical
thinking skills to read and research the issue of legalizing illegal drugs.

I kept a wonderful article you ran on May 22, 1997, by Dr. Theodore
Dalrymple, a physician in England who makes excellent points concerning
this issue.

As Dr. Dalrymple stated, "A man whose appetite is his law is not liberated
but enslaved," He also addresses the argument that, "It isn't the
pharmacological properties of drugs that is the scourge of society, but the
criminal activity."

The problem is: Drug dealers aren't going to become model citizens when
they can no longer sell drugs. They will find other things to do illegally
because they hold contempt for people who work an honest day's labor for an
honest day's pay.

People who are using now would continue to use, but add countless others
who would try and possibly get hooked were there to be no legal
consequences for use. How do you plan to pay for the damaged lives of the
users and the people that their use affects?

Dr. Dalrymple cites Amsterdam as a city "where access to drugs is
relatively unproblematic and is among the most violent and squalid cities
in Europe." Legalization will not do anything to "keep our society safe
from violent criminals."

JO HENDERSON

Lubbock Health Education Coordinator

Texas Tech University Via e-mail