Letter: Restrictions on pot problematic

Thursday, Oct. 24, 2002 | 9:29 a.m.

Near the end of the movie "The Untouchables," someone asks the character playing Elliot Ness what he is going to do now that Prohibition is over and it is legal to drink alcohol. Ness' reply was: I'm going to go get a drink!

The nation suffered from Prohibition by creating criminal organizations that would not have been so powerful without the Prohibition laws.

There obviously have been problems associated with alcohol, but the restrictions caused more problems. This is the same situation we are facing with drugs like marijuana; the nation will not fall apart but it will also have those who will use the drug and drive.

It is legal to drink alcohol, but the law will prosecute anyone who causes harm from over-drinking. This should also be the way Proposition 9 is labeled.

If marijuana becomes legal, I wonder if the reporters will ask the drug czar what he would do?

CHARLES LOUIS HOELDERLIN

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