Would Legalizing Drugs Reduce Crime?
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Prof. John J. DiIulio (“Is There Any Way to Stop Criminals?” May 2) belongs to the Washington crowd of reporters and pundits who assume that the grimmer the news, the more realistic it must be.
DiIulio compounds this dubious bit of wisdom with simplistic linear thinking: More male teen-agers, more crime.
He argues, “There is nothing that can done about that.”
It apparently has not occurred to DiIulio that most crimes are committed for gain and not just for the fun of it. And the most profitable gain in the inner cities comes from the sale of drugs.
Make drugs legal and much of their profitability vanishes. This might also reduce the crimes that addicts commit to afford the drugs they need.
Legalizing drugs won’t completely eliminate crime, but it is at least one thing that governments can do to reduce crime.
SIDNEY KASH
Manhattan Beach
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