CBS channel 2 in Los Angeles reported that the LAPD had arrested five people for operating a methamphetamine lab in Sylmar. A haz-mat crew was sent out to start the cleanup, and police officers have alleged that the operators dumped their chemicals on the outside instead of using the trash and that the property is therefore highly contaminated.

If meth were legal, it would be manufactured by licensed pharmaceutical corporations that know how to properly handle chemicals. Inspectors could monitor the operations to ensure compliance with the applicable regulations. And there wouldn't be the occasional gunfire between rival manufacturers or between suspects and police who are trying to arrest them (not that that happened in this case).

Whatever one thinks about meth and its effects on people, at a minimum everyone should admit that we wouldn't have meth labs -- a consequences of prohibition, therefore a reason to enact drug legalization.

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