Pubdate: Fri, 03 Jun 2016
Source: Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette (Fayetteville, AR)
Copyright: 2016 Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC.
Contact: http://www.nwaonline.com/submit/letter/
Website: http://www.nwaonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/828
Author: Linda Barnes

LOGIC DOESN'T HOLD UP

Sen. Tom Cotton's logic for his statement that the U.S. didn't have 
enough people in prison was that all the murders and assaults have 
not been solved, so there should be more people in jail. Yes, if 
those crimes were solved there would be more people in jail, but that 
is no reason, whatsoever, for people with drug problems to be in 
jail. If anything, it begs for leniency for those incarcerated for 
nonharmful crimes because then there will be more room in prisons 
when police do solve all those cold cases. Which also brings up the 
point that if police were not so busy chasing after minor offenders 
of our failed drug war, they would have more time to solve the cases 
of murder and assault.

The fact that there are unsolved cases is no reason for our draconian 
drug laws to continue to be enforced. More and more states are 
legalizing marijuana and have increased those states' coffers, and it 
appears crime hasn't increased. At the very least, I hope that 
Arkansas will legalize medical cannabis if it is on the ballot this 
year. Please, people, research its effectiveness from the stories of 
people who have used it for its healing properties or relief from 
pain and nausea.

I know people get tired of hearing that America has more people in 
prison than any other country in the world, but do they actually 
believe it? I think they must not, or else they would be doing 
something about it. Some people are trying to affect a change, 
notably Michelle Alexander in her book, The New Jim Crow, in which 
she notes, "the United States imprisons a larger percentage of its 
black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid." 
We need to call and write our legislators and let them know we don't 
want more prisons-for-profit built and we won't need them if we stop 
this useless war on drugs and instead get medical help for those 
truly addicted to legal or illegal drugs.

LINDA BARNES

Prairie Grove
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom