Pubdate: Fri, 16 Jan 2009 Source: DrugSense Weekly (DSW) Website: http://www.drugsense.org LETTER OF THE WEEK JUST CALL IT DRUG-RELATED VIOLENCE ON THE STREETS By Tom Uffner A recent front-page story said, "Police and city officials blame the spike in violence on a loose judicial system and entrenched social problems, such as unemployment, school dropouts and drug abuse." Allowing a ludicrous statement like this to go unchallenged is the sort of irresponsible journalism we've come to expect from publications that support the so-called War on Drugs, and it shouldn't fool us anymore. Why can't they just be honest and call it drug law-related violence? Delaware's judicial system is anything but loose: we are number one in the U.S. for per capita prison rate. That is not a statistic to be proud of. There might be less unemployment if many inner city residents didn't have criminal records making it difficult for them to get jobs. And there is no violence associated with the legal drug trade. If CVS opens a store across the street from Happy Harry's, it does not lead to a bloody turf war. Disputes between pharmacists and customers do not result in shootings. Tom Uffner Newark Pubdate: Sun, 11 Jan 2009 Source: News Journal, The (Wilmington, DE) - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake