LEGALIZING DRUGS

Editor:

Recently your paper has published letters from Mr. Muse, Mr. Sharpe
and Mr. Buors, all giving their opinions on legalizing drugs. Mr.
Muse writes that heroin and cocaine were used in products in the
early 20th century. Those drugs were, of course, as addictive back
then as they are today and very little was actually known about the
dangers of those drugs back then. Bayer and Coca-Cola eventually
stopped using them in their products for a good reason.

These letter writers seem to want to put economics before morals.
That decision has always kept us in turmoil.

Mr. Buors writes that there are those who have survived their long
lives just fine using these drugs. I am sure that number of people is
a very small percentage of the population, compared to those who have
died using these drugs. Walk the streets, visit the hospitals and
drug treatment centers and ask the users if they could do it all over
again, would they. Ask them how happy and successful their lives are.
There are those who will read this letter who use drugs and you
should ask yourselves the same questions.

Mr. Buors writes about "moral righteousness." We will all have to
answer for our moral righteousness one day. He writes, "moral
righteousness is the underlying reason for the drug war." That's like
blaming God for our sins.

Legalize drugs and watch work productivity decline, absenteeism rise
and see how fast the school dropout problem escalates.

It's a proven fact that these drugs control and destroy the brain and
this is what you want for the future of America?

I choose morals over economics any day.

Michael Highsmith

Jacksonville, Fla.