My hangup on decriminalization is this -- heroin and cocaine are highly addictive and destructive; make them legal and more people will try them and get hooked, contributing to more dysfunction in American society. In all the debates I've had with the legalization proponents, none has presented a convincing counter-argument, an assurance that we won't have more users and abusers than we do now. So, I'm not still not getting on the bandwagon . . .

"I used to think the same as you as far as more people getting into drugs if they are legal," writes Eddie Somers from the Eastern Shore. "I live in Crisfield and grew up on Smith Island and Tangier. All three of these very small places now have drug (yes, heroin) problems. If our legal system cannot stop it in small places such as these they just cannot beat it. I think we should let the state (through local health departments) give these people their drugs and you would see a much safer place for all of us to live in."

Well, Eddie, if under legalization there are state stores selling the stuff, believe me, you'll see even more Crisfielders giving it a try. (Believe it or not, some people actually refrain from using heroin or cocaine because there's a chance you'll go to prison if caught with it. Imagine!)

As for medical distribution -- that's not a bad idea. That would eliminate a good chunk of the black market and serve the already addicted. But legalization of heroin and cocaine, and taxing its sales in the way we tax alcohol and tobacco now -- that will just lead to more addicts than we have now. We might eliminate the gangland violence related to drug trafficking, but increased addiction will mean more petty crime, more lost work days, more family trauma, more car accidents, more poverty, more kids growing up in broken homes, more child abuse. More of what we have now.