Three cheers for Editor Leslie O'Donnell of the News-Times for her Editorial, "The Voters Speak," Nov. 20, 1998.
An important step has been taken by Oregon voters' approval of Measure 67 and the rejection of Measure 57 if it means that the public has come to understand that being against the "War on Drugs" does not mean endorsing drug use. O'Donnell is totally right on in her comparison of the current methods of suppression of drugs with the failed attempts against alcohol earlier this century.
The 14 years this country spent under the 18th Amendment to the Constitution (1919 to1933) probably included more criminal violence than any other period in US History. Smuggling and bootlegging generated a vast criminal industry, just as have contemporary blackmarket activities. Spin-off industries include prostitution, burglary, illicit weapons trafficing, money laundering, and political bribery. Industries which have greatly benefitted include prison building, prison staffing,law enforcement, courts and legal prosecution, criminal legal defense,