SHOULD GOVERNMENT BE IN THE DOPE BUSINESS?

In spite of the well-thought-out April 27 article "America in a fix" by
John L. Kane regarding the War on Drugs, I find it hard to believe that
legalization or a policy of relative benign neglect (of the law) is going
to become official policy.

If we consider how other consumer items are handled in this country there
is no item over which the government doesn't have regulatory authority,
from the food you eat to the fabric in your clothes to the gas in your car
to the air that you breathe. Virtually everything you deal with has
oversight via some agency willing and ready to pass legislation, invoke
regulation and sue if necessary to maintain control.

Now consider the "legalization" or decriminalization of marijuana, medical
or otherwise. Who is going to be in charge of quality control or
distribution and at what level -- state or federal? The government has
neither the time, talent nor inclination to reverse course on the issue
when the War on Drugs provides so many jobs.

Also, keep in mind this is the same government that brought us the war in
Vietnam, burned the Branch Davidians beyond recognition, can't control our
borders, and had little or no clue about the dozens of terrorists and cells
in this country planning the Sept. 11 attacks. A reversal on the legality
of marijuana would require a tacit admission that the previous policy was
wrong; and what do you do with the people incarcerated for marijuana
offenses (not to mention their guards)? Is this really the government you
want in charge of your dope?

John Randall

Aurora