Pubdate: Thu, 05 Jan 2006 Source: Phoenix New Times (AZ) Copyright: 2006 New Times, Inc. Contact: http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/640 Author: Kirk Muse Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1940/a02.html THE LAST WORD ON METH Make it legal: Regarding your series on meth ("The Perfect Drug" I have a simple solution that I believe would eliminate 99 percent of the illegal methamphetamine labs. The solution is Desoxyn, the pharmaceutical form of methamphetamine legally available in local pharmacies for less than $2 per dose with a doctor's prescription. Start selling it at local pharmacies without a prescription, with no questions asked to any adult. That is, sell it just like tobacco products are sold. Would we still have people addicted to methamphetamine? Yes. Would methamphetamine addicts need to rob or commit acts of prostitution to obtain money to buy their methamphetamine? No. Would the methamphetamine addicts prefer to purchase a pure pharmaceutical grade of methamphetamine instead of methamphetamine manufactured with batteries and fertilizer? Yes. When the sale of alcohol was re-legalized in 1933, it was not because anybody decided that alcohol was not so harmful after all, but rather because of the crime and corruption that the prohibition of alcohol caused. When alcohol was re-legalized, the illegal bathtub gin producers went out of business overnight for economic reasons, and they have stayed out of business for economic reasons. When they re-legalized alcohol, our overall crime rate declined substantially, and our murder rate declined for 10 consecutive years. Have we learned any lessons from this? Not yet. Kirk Muse Mesa - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin