IMAGINE NO DRUG-RELATED CRIME

To the Editor:
Thanks for publishing Allan Erickson's thoughtful letter,
"Legalization seems to be the way to go in drug war" (Dec. 6).

Imagine if we had no "drug-related crime." Imagine if our overall
crime rate was a small fraction of our current crime rate.

We once had such a situation here in the United States. Prior to the
passage of the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914, the term "drug-related
crime" didn't exist.

And drug lords, drug cartels or even drug dealers as we know them
today, didn't exist either.

Back then, all types of recreational drugs were legally sold to
anybody with no questions asked, for pennies per dose in grocery
stores and pharmacies.

Did we have a lot more drug addicts then compared to now? No.

We had about the same percentage of our population addicted to drugs
according to U. S. federal judge John L. Kane of Colorado.

For the sake of our children, can we re-legalize our now-illegal
drugs and sell them from licensed business establishments? This would
put the drug dealers and drug lords out of business overnight.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.