DRUG PROHIBITION

Thanks for publishing Robert Sharpe's June 24 letter, Drugs, crime
prohibition-related. When Coca-Cola contained cocaine instead of
caffeine, the term "drug-related crime" didn't exist. Neither did
drug lords or drug cartels.

When pure pharmaceutical-grade Bayer heroin was legally sold in
pharmacies for about the same price as aspirin, criminals and
terrorists were not involved in the drug business.

Criminals now are involved in the drug business for one reason: drug
prohibition. Prohibition has corrupted all levels of government, from
cops on the beat to heads of government, just as alcohol prohibition
did during our grandfathers' generation.

When alcohol prohibition ended in 1933, the U.S. murder rate declined
for 10 consecutive years. Have we learned any lessons? Not yet.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.