DRUG PROHIBITION

In regard to Scott Sexton's Nov. 20 column, "State's policy of locking
up drug users is not working," decriminalization is a dabbling
half-measure. If we're really serious about this, then we have to go
all the way, which calls for legalization.

Prohibition from the beginning has hopelessly befogged the issue of
drug harm. There is no way of knowing how bad drugs really are until
the onus of illegality is removed. One reason for this is that under
prohibition, treatment is prescribed for the wrong reasons, and no
determination is made as to whether it is really necessary.

It is a fact that the overwhelming majority of people using illegal
drugs don't need treatment, and that they lead otherwise normal and
productive lives. Many of these same people become victims of
Gestapo-style drug enforcement, which condemns them to long prison
terms for no sane reason.

It's time for us to wake up and do the smart thing: End prohibition.
It didn't work the first time, and it isn't working now.

THE REV. JACK WILKINSON

RETIRED UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST MINISTER

Winston-Salem