TAKE THE PROFIT OUT OF ILLEGAL DRUGS

To the editor:

I had to laugh when I read this line taken from an editorial (Delta
Democrat Times - July 3) "Perhaps the arrest on Monday - by members of the
Greenville Police Department, Washington County Sheriff's Department and
the state Bureau of Narcotics - of a reported Greenville firefighter on
drug trafficking charges is the long-awaited beginning of an aggressive
antiphon to what we see as a runaway illegal drug train with no motorman at
the controls."

Who did you think was selling and consuming these drugs?

Only policemen, your neighbor's kids, your coworkers, your relatives, your
public officials, teachers and preachers?

Drug prohibition lures some of all of these. And as 30 years have
conclusively proven, penalties and "aggressive antiphon" are no help.

Hello. Anyone there?

Someone please pick up the phone.

The Delta Democrat Times' editorial demonstrates that the newspaper's
editorial board have no more notion of what is epidemic about drug-war
troubles than it has conception of the solutions to them.

Drug war puts more drugs everywhere, makes drugs the most valuable
commodity on the face of the Earth, is the hope of the poor around the
world (like DeLorean of auto fame who tried to save his company from
bankruptcy through drug-dealing).

Drug war tempts the greedy, corrupts the kids, cops and firefighters. So
what are you going to do about it? Antiphon?

Why not.

Or, if you're serious about clipping the wings of drug purveyors, then tell
them, "We're gonna bust you. Not with cops and prison cells, but by taking
the profit out of the drug business."

Kill 'em with kindness and drug tolerance! Fight drug dealers in a fair
fight for the heart, soul and conscience of our kids. Stop "spotting" the
dealers the unfair advantage of prohibition profits and a
government-protected monopoly.

James E. Gierach

Oak Lawn, Ill.