FAILURE TO END STATE LIQUOR MONOPOLY A BLACK MARK FOR RIDGE ADMINISTRATION

Perhaps we should make the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board responsible
for the control of illegal drugs in Pennsylvania. We all know it's much
easier to obtain an illegal substance like a joint of marijuana anywhere in
the state than it is to buy a legal substance in the form of a single
bottle of beer. Oh, you can buy a six pack of beer in most any bar room, or
you can buy no less than a full case of 24 at your local beer distributor's
place, but if it's one beer you're looking for forget it.

That's the kind of control we need to shut down the druggies and their
suppliers.

Former Gov. Ridge said he was going to eliminate this annoyance and turn
the Pennsylvania booze monopoly over to private enterprise, but he backed
off in the face of pressure from the lord protectorate union. We hope he
does a better job for President Bush, but it's doubtful that he will.
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani of New York and his police commissioner are the
guys President Bush should get for the new cabinet post for home security
rather than a waffler like Ridge.

Donald B. Whalen

Lake Winola