ILLEGAL DRUGS: TREAT THE ADDICTED

This is in response to Tonyaa Weathersbee's Dec. 10
column.

It is easy for us to hate Henry Manns, the dealer of drugs, just as we
hated Ted Bundy, Florida's murderer of young women.

The system could deal with Bundy, but it can't deal with
Manns.

The difference between Manns and Bundy is that Manns' customers are
willing buyers; Bundy's "customers" were not asking to be murdered.

It is the fatal flaw of drug war logic. Even executing Mann would not
reduce drug use, because there are other dealers waiting impatiently
to take his place.

The drug war has been building for almost 100 years. It escalated
sharply after 1930 with Harry Anslinger's zeal to stamp out certain
drugs by punishing anyone who used or sold them.

When it didn't work as advertised, Nelson Rockefeller, then Richard
Nixon and then Ronald Reagan stepped up the war.

Academics predicted failure at each step, but they were
ignored.

If Americans continue to wage the drug war against dealers and casual
users, rather than treating those who are truly addicted, Abraham
Lincoln will have been proved wrong: It really is possible to fool all
the people all the time.

JOHN CHASE

Palm Harbor