Decriminalizing the Use of Drugs

I wholeheartedly support Morse’s plea for a debate on the proposition that decriminalization of drugs can significantly reduce the enormous amount of crime now associated with the drug traffic. Whereas Morse cites two reasons why the drug war is unwinnable, I would offer a third based on my experience as an adolescent during the waning years of the Prohibition Era.

It has the same root cause as that which drove Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden: that which is strictly forbidden by elders in their infinite wisdom must somehow be tried just for the helluva it by the unbelievers in the process of growing up.

That, at least, was how I became introduced to alcohol when it was forbidden by the Constitution of the United States and denounced me as the devil’s work by my elders with a fervency that would have made President and Mrs. Reagan proud.

Furthermore, acting on such temptations may not always be the path leading straight to hell! I still enjoy my occasional cocktail and regular glass of wine with dinner some 50 years after succumbing to the forbidden temptation.

SAM WILDMAN

Santa Monica