Zero drug crime

Dear Editor,

The "retired police detective" who is speaking out against the war on drugs is Howard J. Wooldridge, not Mike Hendricks. Mr. Sharpe would probably know this had he bothered to actually read Mr. Hendrick's article, rather than finding it in some automated web search and seizing the opportunity for yet another letter to the editor.

It appears that this might just be the primary duty of Mr. Sharpe's last few full-time jobs: http://www. mapinc.org/writers/Robert+Sharpe

He's come a long way from being Drugsense's volunteer of the month in May 2000 (which he seems to have earned by ... writing letters to editors). http://drugsense. org/volpics.htm

Would legalizing drugs reduce crime? Absolutely. It would reduce drug offenses to zero. In much the same manner, if all theft laws were rescinded, that category of crime would also drop to zero.

Neither course of action would bring any relief to a besieged society, but it would be of great benefit to the offenders, which is the obvious and all too transparent aim of legalization groups.

I frequently find myself questioning whether it is proper for government to endeavor to protect people from their own stupidity. The cynical side of me would condemn those efforts as interfering with Natural Selection, and thus doing a grave disservice to the human race in the long run. And yet, I've seen entirely too many examples of the misery suffered by out-of-control drug users, their families, and the victims of the crimes which predictably go hand-in-hand with drug abuse.

The cynical side of me also suggests that perhaps we should leave it up to the FDA to approve those substances for human consumption, thus postponing the problem for another twenty years or so ...

I find it amusing that those of Sharpe's ilk continually criticize Prohibition, and then go on to cite statistics demonstrating alcohol to be more harmful than name of illegal drug.

Should the alcohol-related deaths SINCE the repeal of Prohibition be blamed upon THAT "legalization," Mr. Sharpe? How would yours fare any better?

Owen J. McPhillips

McCook