Pubdate: Sun, 25 Feb 2001
Source: Modesto Bee, The (CA)
Copyright: 2001 The Modesto Bee
Contact:  http://www.modbee.com/help/letters.html
Website: http://www.modbee.com/
Author: Robert Long

END THE DRUG WAR

I've had enough of this "drug war." We lost a long time ago, but egomaniac 
politicians will not admit it. This has devolved into an international 
embarrassment and has cost too many innocent lives. It's time to rethink 
our strategies on dealing with drug abuse.

I hope I'm not the only one who noticed that the more money we throw, the 
less good it does. I heard a plan that wants to make methamphetamine more 
expensive to discourage use. Duh! Addicts will just rob, burglarize and 
carjack us to pay for their fixes.

I've heard that people are upset that meth trafficking turns dealers into 
millionaires. How many people remember Al Capone, Meyer Lansky and Bugsy 
Siegel? This history lesson shows how prohibition breeds crime and make 
criminals wealthy. Drug addiction isn't a crime; it is a sickness.

Robert Long

Modesto, Feb. 16
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