LEGALIZING SOME DRUGS WOULD CLOSE GATEWAY

I'm writing about John Holley's letter: "Drug legalization was
candidate's undoing, with just cause" (March 6, 2007).

If tough-on-drugs policies worked, the idealistic goal of a drug-free
America would have been reached a long time ago.

And if tolerant drug policies created more drug use, the Netherlands
would have much higher drug usage rates than the United States.

They do not.

In fact, the Dutch use marijuana and other recreational drugs at much
lower rates than Americans do.

And if tolerant drug policies caused more overall crime, especially
violent crime, the Dutch would have much higher crime rates than the
United States.

They do not.

The Dutch murder rate is less than one-third the U.S. per capita
rate, and their rate of incarceration is about one-seventh the U. S. rate.

In the Netherlands, marijuana is sold to adults without criminal
sanctions in coffee shops.

In the United States, marijuana is sold by criminals who often sell
other, much more dangerous drugs and who often offer free samples of
the more dangerous drugs to their marijuana customers -- thus
creating the gateway effect.

Re-legalize, regulate and control the sale of marijuana, and we close
the gateway.

Re-legalize all types of recreational drugs and sell them in licensed
business establishments, and we will make the term "drug-related
crime" obsolete.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.