Cigar Zin

[Thomas]

Nancy,

I entered high school in 1960. In my Brooklyn neighborhood we already had a decade-long drug problem by then. I reject the notion that today's youths are any different than in my youth. I accept the possibility, however, of spillover. Now that drugs and teenage crime have spilled out of poor city streets and into suburban and even rural communities, now it is an American problem.

It was a problem in the fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties. In fact, drug use was a problem in the twenties and thirties when it was legal albeit, it was adults then. Nancy, if alcohol prohibition created criminals, and Repeal removed them (except for the three tier operators, of course) then why would it be any different with narcotics or stimulants, which incidentally many, many, many adults already take legally.

We cannot legislate morality and government cannot make people stop wanting medication for their ills. Families and communities have to take that responsibility. The best government can do is to reduce crime, legalizing would remove a good part of the reason for criminals to engage in drug traffic.