We have the power to end drug overdose deaths now. We can pull the rug out from under the traffickers and pushers by legalizing all drugs. Taking away the profits will end the business. Trump says we can’t learn from other countries. Maybe he can’t learn but other Americans can. We had 64,000 overdose deaths last year while Portugal had three and Rumania had two (per one million residents).

If prison time is off the table, addicts will come forward for treatment. With the savings from law enforcement and incarceration, there is money for the long term (about four years) treatment that actually works. There is money for education too.

If drugs are legal, quality control can be implemented. That means no synthetic Fentanyl or other harmful additives which kill so many users. We can also insure the correct dosage. In nations that have legalized all drugs, usage continues to go down with the passage of time and overdose deaths drop off dramatically. The Mexican cartels would be out of business without the US market.

The war on drugs has been going on since the Sixties with Nixon. It hasn’t worked. As long as the profits are good, the drug runners and gangs will be full steam ahead.  Let’s ask Portugal how they solved their very bad drug problem.

Malita Brown
Wilbraham