Pubdate: Wed, 03 Jan 2018
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2018 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Melissa Veenhuizen
Note: Headline by newshawk

CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM IS LONG OVERDUE

To the editor: For far too long, our poor, working class and communities 
of color have been suffering due to unjust criminal persecution for 
minor offenses like possession of marijuana.

The time for criminal justice reform is long overdue. We ought to divert 
money from prisons into education and drug recovery programs.

What happened in Portugal after it decriminalized drugs compared with 
the U.S. when Presidents Nixon, Reagan and Clinton fought their war on 
drugs is incredibly telling. We need to change our way of thinking and 
get back to helping our communities, our brothers and sisters, succeed 
and thrive in this country.

Melissa Veenhuizen, Long Beach
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MAP posted-by: Matt