LETTER DOES NOT UNDERSTAND ISSUE

Donald Nash ("In Your View," March 21) does not understand the dynamics of
prohibition, and he does not understand that the issue here is prohibition
of consumer products, not prohibition of harming another person.

His argument that murder, rape, etc. fall into the same category as
prohibition of various consumer goods such as tobacco, alcohol or other
drugs is a specious and misleading argument, or simply reveals a lack of
understanding of the issues.

Richard Sinnott,
Fort Pierce, Fla.

PROHIBITION STILL IS CONSIDERED A JOKE

As someone who has done in-depth research on alcohol prohibition, I have to
disagree with Donald Nash's contention that alcohol prohibition was not a
failure.

Apparent alcohol consumption in the U.S. fell from about 1911 to about
1922. National alcohol prohibition went into effect in 1920. From 1922 to
the end of Prohibition in 1933, apparent alcohol consumption and related
problems rose dramatically. By 1926, arrests for alcohol-related crimes had
risen to levels 30 percent above the pre-Prohibition records. Homicides
also soared to previously unheard of levels - and then dropped dramatically
as soon as Prohibition was repealed.

According to the U.S. National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse - the
largest study of the drug laws ever done - alcohol consumption during
Prohibition actually rose about 11 percent over pre-Prohibition levels.

But perhaps the worst effect was the alcohol epidemic it caused among
children. School officials testified before Congress that they had to
cancel school dances because so many kids showed up drunk with hip flasks
full of whiskey. Bootleggers didn't check anyone's age when they sold their
booze, and they discovered that kids made excellent couriers. Prohibition
was passed with a campaign of "Save the Children from Alcohol." It was
repealed with a campaign of "Save the Children from Prohibition."

In short, alcohol prohibition was such a failure that it is still
considered a joke seven decades after it was repealed.

Mr. Nash doesn't have to take my word for any of this. The full text of
hundreds of original historical documents detailing the history of our
current drug laws, as well as the history of alcohol prohibition, complete
with charts and graphs, can be found at http://www.druglibra-ry.org/schaffer.

Clifford A. Schaffer,
Director RCNet Online Library of Drug Policy Canyon Country, Calif.