Pubdate: Wed, 15 Mar 2006
Source: Crossroads Chronicle (Cashiers, NC)
Copyright: 2006 Crossroads Chronicle
Contact: http://crossroadschronicle.com/forms/letters.php
Website: http://crossroadschronicle.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3814
Author: Bonnie Colleen McCool

DRUGS R US

Dear Editor,

Ken Locke, of Glenville, is taking a stand for freedom and compassion
- - things most Americans once stood proudly for. Thank you to Frank
Smith and the Crossroads Chronicle for your coverage of his historic
journey for justice.

People are going to self-medicate, smoke, drink and party, no matter
what the law says. The best we can hope from our policies is to reduce
the harm.

Current policies destroy families. There are an estimated nine million
orphaned American children caused by the war on drugs. Prohibition
triggers violence, corruption and crime, causing more death and
suffering than the drugs themselves.

Drugs R Us! Tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceuticals account for almost a
full quarter of all those who die each year in the U.S. Illicit drugs
account for less than one percent of total deaths. No deaths are
attributed to marijuana. The drug war hysteria is created to take our
eyes off the real killers we tolerate!

I am a once-proud American. My country once stood for freedom from
oppression. America now has the dubious honor of being number one in
the world for having the most people in prison. The land of the
used-to-be free is the most incarcerated nation in history.

Leaders responsible for current quagmire will have to answer to a
higher power for their crimes against humanity. It's time to end the
terror by changing our intrusive, big-bully policies, both foreign and
domestic. The monetary costs are staggering and the human suffering
unconscionable.

BONNIE COLLEEN MCCOOL

Stephenville, Texas 
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MAP posted-by: SHeath(DPF Florida)