LETTERS: THE CASE FOR LEGALIZING DRUGS

To the editor:

Regarding Jack Stapleton's Jan. 25 column: One of the best definitions of mental illness is for a person to keep doing the same thing but somehow expect a different result. This summarizes our difficulty with the war on drugs. Mr. Stapleton aptly lists some of the more disagreeable aspects of getting tough, including building more prisons, hiring more police and going after users and dealers in a constant, never-ending cycle. However, Mr. Stapleton concludes while legalizing drugs may solve the dilemma, it would lead to a disaster. Odd. I thought the disaster was the situation he just described.

While I am far from convinced that legalization of drugs is the final answer, let me add these comments.

For better or worse, we are a drug-using society. Many Americans start each day with caffeine, cigarettes, antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications, and just as many end their day with alcohol and sleeping medications. In between are countless other street drugs, herbal tonics and prescription medication all designed to affect the mind and behavior in varying degrees and ways. That every society now and in the past has had legal and illegal drugs is of no surprise. The question is not if we are going to have drugs, but how to control them. Yes, in a perfect world we would not need these drugs. I congratulate those who rarely or never use drugs.

Control: Today the sale and distribution of illegal drugs is controlled by the cartels, smugglers, large U.S. distributors, gangs, local pushers and corrupt officials from customs, immigration and police at all levels. Legalization offers the opportunity of taking control from the drug lords and giving it to us, the local government or parents.

Parents, please do not confuse legalization with condoning drug use. Ask yourself: What system would allow the least chance of your own children using drugs? Your child has open access to drugs (ask any high school or inner-city student) and a pusher system to encourage drug use. Legalization might allow you and your local police to control access with no pushers in sight.

Free our courts, prisons and police: Let us reserve the prisons for violent criminals and keep them there. In federal prisons, over half the inmates are non-violent drug offenders, and it costs over $50,000 a year to house one prisoner. In your local area, the courts and police would be available for your protection instead of using one-third of their time on minor drug charges.

Taxes: As Mr. Stapleton notes, the war on drugs is expensive and increasing. In the next 10 years, we are guaranteed to spend an additional $140 billion with the likelihood that the drug problem will not improve one bit and may even worsen. Legalization offers the potential to actually generate revenue for our treasury much the same way as alcohol and tobacco.

Decreased drug use: Yes, it could happen if legalization is done right. The money spent on fighting the drug war could be spent on education and drug treatment much the way we discourage cigarettes and drunk driving. Again, we legalize, not condone. Employers, your employees would not be able to use drugs on the job the same way they cannot carry a bottle of Jack Daniels to work now.

Crime: Legalization gives us the opportunity to take our streets back. The average hard-drug addict commits over a thousand felonies a year. We take back our streets by removing the addicts, eliminating the gangs and putting police to work fighting real crime.

In summary, legalization does offer a partial solution to our drug problem. Would it work for all drugs in all situations? I doubt it. But the alternative is to continue a system that has been an obvious failure. Now is the time for open debate and creative solutions.

DR. RICHARD N. MITCHELL

Jackson