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TOUGH-ON-DRUGS POLICIES HAVEN'T WORKED IN U.S.

I'm writing about the outstanding March 28 letter from Mett Ausley Jr., "N.C.  should learn lesson from Oklahoma."

I'd like to add that keeping the ingredients of meth behind the counter is certainly a lot better solution than the previous nonsolution of building more and bigger prisons.

Oklahoma learned the hard way that the so-called "tough-on-drugs" policies don't work, and they are very expensive.  Largely because of its tough-on-drugs policies, Oklahoma became the fourth-highest state for incarcerations.

Largely because of our war on drugs policies, the United States has been transformed into the most incarcerated nation in the history of human civilization.  Even though we in the U.S.  have fewer than 5 percent of the world's population, we have more than 25 percent of the world's prisoners.  In other words, one out of every four prisoners in the world is locked in an American jail or prison.  What message does this send to the rest of the world?

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Az.