PROHIBITION ENABLES DEADLY DRUG TRADE

A Dec. 30 Columbian story "Safe streets" declared "For this story
we've looked at just three serious crimes, the kind folks might worry
about. We added assaults, burglaries and drug crimes for each area."

Excuse me? There weren't enough rapes and murders so The Columbian
decided to fall back on the old standby "drugs"? What exactly is a
drug crime? Is DUI a drug crime? Is standing too close to the doorway
of a business while smoking tobacco a drug crime?

The words "drug" and "crime" would not be found in the same sentence
if this ludicrous prohibition would end. Turf wars, crack babies and
a large percentage of juveniles using illegal drugs would be a thing
of the past. These issues aren't of drugs but the illicit trade
prohibition propagates and the threat of criminal prosecution that
limits an abuser's resources for help. The near 30,000 people killed
in Mexico haven't been about drugs, but money.

Drug abuse is a social-health issue ... a crime? The only major drug
crimes that come to my mind are the Harrison Act, Marijuana Tax Act
and the Controlled Substance Act - crimes of a nation against its citizens.

Jim Kennedy

Vancouver