I expected to get blasted for advocating, in today's column, that government fight drug dealers by taking their business away from them and selling cocaine and heroin legally through licensed clinics. So far I haven't. Almost all the emails have been positive. A sampling:

-- After reading The Sun's front page article Sunday on the tragedy of women addicts contracting diseases from prostitution, I came to the same conclusion myself! Not only would legalizing drugs solve many crime and health issues, but it would provide a contact point for recovery and rehabilitation of addicts.

-- I enjoyed and totally agree with your column in today's paper. Thanks for putting it out there.
It is too bad that such a plan would never be implemented in Baltimore or anywhere in the US.
Taking the profit out of the drug trade seems to be the such an obvious solution.

-- That was an excellent article on drug policy. It reminds me of Prohibition. About 1920, the American voters changed the U.S. Constitution to prohibit the manufacture, distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages. The American voters repealed this 18th amendment about 1933 by adopting the 21st amendment. The "Roaring Twenties" were fueled by bootleg booze, organized crime, violence over turf and corrupt local police and judges. This outcome was very similar to the War on Drugs. I think Nixon started this latest war. It has gone on for over thirty years with no end in sight. Thanks again for your article.

-- OK Jay, Now it’s your turn to get beat up, relax I’ll do it painlessly. The legalization solution may appear good and in fact I would call it a worst case scenario one akin to dropping th A bomb on Japan. You know anything about the methadone program, like putting humans out to pasture. You were on the verge of figuring out the solution yourself in your column today but like all others are blind to it. Solution is so simple. I guess your solution to the hypothetical ant problem if it were your house would to be dedicate one room for the ants, give them whatever food source they liked and live with it.

-- I agree fully with your ideas and reasoning. Keep prodding our politicians to stop fiddling while the city burns! I commend your colleague Dan Rodericks for his support of recovering addicts. I wish politicians, as did former Mayor Schmoke, had the courage to admit that our drug prohibition policy since 1918 is a failure and the black market it spawns results in the devastation that you described. When I raise the topic with my MD delegate, he cites his efforts to increase drug treatment slots. I commend that, but ask him to address the root cause. Perhaps he will once he decides not to seek reelection.

-- I agree with everything Hancock wrote except "Would it lead to new addicts? Of course." I submit that re-legalizing all drugs would lead to substantially fewer drug addicts. If all types of recreational drugs were re-legalized and sold in regulated, controlled and taxed business establishments for pennies per dose, our overall crime rate would decline dramatically and our public safety would increase substantially. And, I believe, that our overall drug usage rates would decline substantially. That's because drug dealers as we know them today would disappear for economic reasons. The first time almost all drug users use a particular drug, they don't buy it -- either a friend or drug dealer gives it to them. Most retail drug dealers of hard drugs are addicts themselves. They sell drugs to finance their own drug habit and recruit new users by offering free samples to potential customers. With the end of drug prohibition this practice would end.

-- Congratulations on a truly excellent column this morning. I’m sure the drug warriors are out in force already with their non sequiturs and fallacies on full display. But you’re right, and I think an increasing number of people are recognizing that.

-- I want to commend you for your November 7, 2007 column, Let Adam Smith be the drug pusher. I think that it's absolutely on target. We can only hope that our nation will come to it's senses some day. Here's a theory about why the majority of our elected officials won't touch your proposal. It does not directly affect their families and their neighborhoods. I know that drug abuse affects people of all colors. However, proportionately, the illegal drug trade hits African-American and Hispanic people with far more vengeance. If white, suburban people and neighborhoods were as hard hit as inner-city Baltimore, elected officials would be much more open to your proposal. Let's keep talking about this and stay optimistic. I can remember when airline passengers were given four-packs of free cigarettes during their flights. Now, smoking is banned in the air and in most workplaces. We've come a long way. This has been a huge change, and we can hope that attitudes on legalizing drugs will make a similar leap.

-- Thank you for printing the article about drugs in todays paper. I couldn't agree more and have been advocating the same position for more than 25 years. Unfortunately most people don't agree and I know you will get a ton of mail telling you how naive or silly or stupid your idea is. I wouldn't be surprised if you even got a death threat or two. Stupid people act in stupid ways and you will certainly get a taste of it today. But, I want you to know that some of us see things the way they are, and appreciate others like yourself who speak the truth.

-- You have put into black and white what I and many of my friends have been saying for years. There would be other benefits to making drugs legal, such as a major impact on health with fewer overdoses and deaths due to poor quality or adulterated drugs and a decrease in needle borne diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis.
But the major reason your idea will fail is because of the damage to those who now profit so greatly from "the war on drugs". I am not talking about the drug dealers but the politicians and lawyers who depend on keeping this issue alive to keep up their positions and profits. Since all the laws are made by those two entities, the chance of your proposal seeing the light of day is less than nil. You are a brave man to have the temerity to print this in your paper and I commend you for it. I would bet that this e-mail is part of a small minority compared to the storm of protest letters you are going to receive, but please stick to your guns. Finally, a rational idea seeing the light of day.

-- You're absolutely right about legalizing drugs. Here's another reason to do it: the government has no moral right to prohibit drug use by adults. Of course, the punishment for selling drugs to children should be severe. Whether the drug is tobacco, alcohol, or heroin. The government declared the War on Drugs -- admittedly with the support of many citizens -- and it's time to declare an end to it.

-- I’ve been pushing the legalize drugs and get black market out issue for longer than I’ve been in the energy business. I was just discussing it yesterday, in fact. Take the money from legalization and push into education and build a supremely competitive workforce and start attracting international business here. Let’s stop being victims (relying on BRAC to bail us out – another word for government handouts) and make something of value out of our communities and the people here.