The other night I was sitting up and watching the television and I had a glorious revelation. I had been watching a program on CNN about the problems that crack has on society. How it is causing a deterioration of the inner cities through the means of addiction and the lowering of personal motivations and the corruption of personal morals. The show then went on to tell of how this problem is ever growing, and it has even spread into some of the more ruralcommunities. I personally believe that we need to curb this problem before all American social standards break down and everyone is smoking crack.

Let's pinpoint some of the major problems that smoking crack cause. The main point being that a crack habit can get pretty expensive, and once you aquire a crack habit, it is pretty hard to shake, and that person will do damn near anything to get his or her crack.

Take for example the amount of violence that precipitates due to crack. There are hold-ups, muggings, burglary, car-jackings, extortion, and this list could run on for line after line. The point that I'm trying to get across is that people needing money for crack will use violent means to get it. More often then not, this is subjected on the people in society who are not dependent on crack: the normal everyday people like you or I.

Then there are those people who resort to other desperate means other than violence, like sex. Once again, this aspect of the problem seems to revolve around money, but these people who find themselves without money and needing a fix resort to selling their bodies for crack. This is accomplished through many different means like prostitution to get money for crack, blow-jobs for hits on a crack pipe, or just becoming a "crack-ho" for whatever dealer comes that person's way.

It is these actions that seem to compound the problem for us non crackheads only further with a two pronged effect. One is that society must bare the burden for a large number of crack babies, this due to all the copulation between men and women in their quest for crack. It is not as though these people on crack can properly support themselves, not to mention a small child or two. Then, more often than not, these people end up in the welfare system or begging on the streets where we must support them.

The second prong of the sex and crack issue is sexually transmitted diseases. Think of all the unprotected sex that goes on when a crackhead really needs to get a fix, and imagine how much more prostitution happens just because the prostitute in question must take on that many more clients just to keep up with a crack habit. This in turn increases the likelihood of some sort of sexually transmitted disease in those prostitutes who have crack habits, thus transferring thier diseases to us in the working-class public who are only out looking for a good lay.

It is here that I will introduce my idea. This idea is really not that revolutionary and I personally can't figure out why someone hasn't already come up with it. My great idea is the Crack Stamp! This would work much in the same way that food stamps already work. To all of those people who cannot afford a crack habit, and can provide a statement of monthly income so that the government could determine their eligibility, the government would then given them a monthly allotment of crack stamps.

It is my belief that the government has spent almost a decade trying to solve the problem by attacking at the distribution system, i.e., the importers, the distributors and the dealers; to no end.

It is obviouse that this tactic in not working. So, in my plan we would attack the problems directly. It is not the fault of the distribution system for the problems that crack causes, but it is the people who want to smoke the crack that cause all the social difficulties.

My plan would call for the crack dealers and the government to come together to solve this problem. With the crack stamps, the government would subsidize the crack industry by reimbursing the crack dealers with fifty cents on the dollar for every crack stamp that is turned in to them by the dealers. This action would legalize crack but in the interest of the greater good, which I think, is for the best.

If the people who could not afford crack had some means to purchase it without having to use violence or sex to get it, think of how that would better the lives of everyone. It could virtually eliminate all of the crack related violence and theft from those of us that do not use crack. Crackheads would have a way in which to pay fro their crack and they would not have to steal. They could just stay at home or out on the street corner and smoke their crack in peace. This would also bring down the number of incidents where people contract STD's through crack instigated sexual activity. This lower incident of sexual activity would also in turn bring down the number of children produced due to crack related sex. Thus, there would be a lower burden on the welfare system to support these crackbabies because there would not be as many of them.

Yes, I do realize that my plan my have a flaw or two. Yes, we the public would have to still pay for the crack that these people are smoking, but with the lowered cost of preventive law enforcement due to the legalization of crack, it could end up being no more than we pay already. Besides, it is not as though this is for all crackheads; it is just for the ones who can't afford it. Those crackheads who do not qualify for crack stamps would have to continue paying for their own crack. Just imagine, being able to go out in public and not have to worry about some crackfiend robbing you or a loved one. Or, when your out with someone special, not having to worry about who he or she might have slept with to get their fix of crack and whether or not they contracted a STD.

Personally, I belive that there are already too many things to worry about in this world, and this is my contribution to try to ease some of that worry.


Sincerely,

A concerned citizen