IF YOU CAN'T BEAT IT, LEGISLATE IT

I had such an overwhelming response from readers about my column on the
legality of drugs that I felt compelled to clear up a few things.

I asked the question: Why are drugs illegal? I looked up the history of the
drug laws and reported some of what I found. The laws related to drug use
are lengthy. I could have filled a book with what I learned. Readers said
that if I had researched further I would have learned so and so, or I
should have done so and so.

Well, of course I can't explain all the various reasons that we have drug
laws in the limited amount of space that I have for a column each week. My
intent was to highlight how some of the laws came about. And I did that. I
also differ with some readers' conclusions that I didn't answer my own
question.

I wrote, "Why are drugs illegal? Some people decided that doing drugs
wasn't the 'thing' to do." That's my answer to the drug laws, and it is
undoubtedly different from other people's views. I answered the question,
then concluded: "What people do to themselves should be their own business."

I completely agree with the comments that America's drug laws have filled
our prisons with people charged with trafficking, consuming, manufacturing
and selling drugs. It's the reason we let rapists, child molesters,
murderers, batterers and thieves out on good behavior or just give them
probation. There's no room in the prisons. So build more prisons? Sure,
let's pay for even more people to sit in a cell, spend our tax money on
college educations, eat three square meals a day, pay prison personnel, and
fund the upkeep on the buildings.

Someone also suggested to me that if we allow all drugs to be legal, then
all rehabilitation programs should be shut down. Not surprisingly, I agree.
Addicts can attend "narcotics anonymous" meetings if they want to get
better, or they can pay for treatment out of their own pockets, not through
insurance, so that the rest of the population doesn't suffer from increased
rates.

You would think that Americans would realize the correlation between
prohibition and crime. We did in the '30s when alcohol was prohibited.
Regulation is the answer.

Adults should be allowed to do to their bodies what they please. Not
everyone agrees with pierced tongues but we don't prohibit it. Plastic
surgery -- facelifts, tummy tucks, liposuction, breast enhancements and
botox injections -- is done every day. People have died during these
procedures, which aren't considered medically necessary.

People use tobacco products and end up with lung cancer, emphysema, throat
and mouth cancer, poor circulation and any number of other health problems.
Alcohol use leads to liver damage and alters a person's ability to function
normally. Both these substances are addictive.

But let's also include poor diet. Obesity in America is alarming and
affects all age groups. Should we prohibit the sale of fast food, sugar and
salt? After all, heart disease is killing thousands of Americans each day.
Insurance costs are rising as doctors treat more and more people because
they refuse to eat healthy and exercise. It raises another issue. Should
the rest of America have to pay for the health care of someone who has
smoking-, drinking-, or eating-related diseases? It's food for thought.

Rather than reacting to drug use in America, we should proactively
legislate it, creating tough laws on manufacturing and sales. Tobacco and
alcohol use should be considered drugs as well. Imagine the revenue
generated from taxing marijuana. Last week law enforcement here found and
then destroyed 189 plants worth about $472,500. Someone was going to
harvest that marijuana and sell it. If the government can provide the
buying public with a better price, the black market would be nonexistent.

So it's simple. If you can't beat it, legislate it.