Like any other business, the drug trade in Baltimore is based on supply and demand ("Baltimore's deadly May," June1).

Presently, the demand is so great that at least three major gangs are fighting a violent turf war to control the distribution and sale of drugs. That war that is the direct cause of the marked increase in lethal violence in Baltimore over the last three months. The key to reducing the violence is to reduce the number of addicts.

Using drugs is a choice. Not using drugs is also a choice. Only when folks make the healthy choice will the violence that plagues this city be reduced in a meaningful way.

Marc Raim, Baltimore

[end]

As rightly concerned and upset as we are about the fatal injuries Freddie Gray suffered in police custody, we ought to be just as concerned about the body count that existed prior to his death and has been on the rise ever since (there have been roughly three dozen homicides in Baltimore since Gray died, not counting the many wounded). We have come to accept daily community violence as background noise. What's going on, and what can be done? Sadly, every city and region has well-established lines of distribution of illegal drugs and narcotics. Addicts need their drugs once or several times a day, and there's a global network established to satisfy that craving. It starts overseas, where opium and cocaine are processed and then sent to virtually every community and street corner in the U.S. The billions of dollars spent to buy drugs are funneled back to the drug cartels via financial mechanisms that would rival a Wall Street investment bank.

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During the Baltimore riots, I was traveling in Europe. Usually when people from other countries and states ask where I'm from, I get a blank stare and then I reply that it's near Washington, D.C. No explanation was required this time - Baltimore was worldwide front page news ("Business damage from Baltimore riot estimated at $9M," May 13).

However, the reports made it sound like we were living in a police state and black people were being gunned down in the streets by out-of-control policemen and military men shooting from large armored vehicles.

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BALTIMORE - Some do it because there are warrants for their arrest. Others because they possess drugs, are seeking a thrill, or are just plain scared. Sometimes people do it even when they have done nothing wrong.

Young men in the heavily policed neighborhood where 25-year-old Freddie Gray was chased by the police - and suffered fatal injuries in custody - say running from officers is a way of life with its own playbook, passed down on the streets in much the way a young girl learns double dutch by watching others on the block.

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When Ronald Hammond appeared in a Baltimore courtroom on a charge of possessing 5.9 grams of marijuana, the judge scoffed at the case.

District Judge Askew Gatewood told the prosecutor that "5.9 grams won't roll you a decent joint," according to a transcript of the 2012 case. "Why would I want to spend taxpayers' money putting his little raggedy butt in jail - feeding him, clothing him, cable TV, Internet, prayer, medical expense, clothing - on $5 worth of weed?"

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Freddie Gray's Death Has Sparked Discussions of Many Injustices, but at Its Heart Is the Breakdown in Relations Between Police and the Community

The death of Freddie Gray and the riots that followed have brought Baltimore's problems to the forefront of national, even international, attention.

The drug addiction, poverty, failing schools, health disparities, deteriorating housing, broken families and unemployment that plague neighborhoods like the one where Gray lived and was arrested in have been on full display, and they have become a part of the larger discussion about what it would mean to bring about justice in the wake of his death.

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[David Simon: "If I had to guess and put a name on it, I'd say that at some point, the drug war was as much a function of class and social control as it was of racism. I think the two agendas are inextricably linked, and where one picks up and the other ends is hard to say."]

BALTIMORE -- The mayor is black. The council is almost two-thirds black. The school superintendent is black. The police chief is black, and a majority of his officers are black.

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Your editorial "Why Freddie Gray ran" (April 25) did an exceptional job of capturing the problem facing not only Sandtown-Winchester but much of black America.

I lived in Sandtown-Winchester for 35 years and taught in the Baltimore City Public Schools for 40 years. My experiences tell me that changing the social conditions in poor and minority communities, not policing, is the answer to our crime problem.

If we end the war on drugs and work to address the problems that it caused we can make our state and nation better, safer places for us all.

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Complaint Says They Stole Hundreds of Thousands in Probe of Drug Website

Attorneys for the former federal agents said they were innocent but declined further comment.

Two former federal agents in Baltimore who led an undercover hunt for the head of an online drug marketplace called Silk Road have been charged with stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars during the investigation.

The agents, Carl M. Force, 46, a 15-year veteran of the Drug Enforcement Administration who resigned last year, and Shaun W. Bridges, 32, a special agent with the Secret Service who resigned this month, made their first appearances in court Monday after the unsealing of the criminal complaint in California.

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When it comes to prescription drug abuse in Frederick County, the issue often falls second to the county's heroin epidemic despite its persistent prevalence, according to officials.

The use and abuse of nonprescribed drugs, however, has garnered recent attention after several teens overdosed Wednesday on Ambien and Adderall at Oakdale High School.

A 15-year-old student provided the prescription pills to several schoolmates, sending four to the hospital as they experienced dizziness, shortness of breath, vomiting and lack of coordination. The fifth was released into the care of a parent, according to the Frederick County Sheriff's Office.

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Kudos to reporter Jean Marbella for excellent writing that gave a human face to the scourge of heroin addiction in Baltimore ("Baltimore County family struggles with impact of heroin's grip," March 21).

I applaud The Sun for giving prime space to a timely feature story that could influence Marylanders to become more conscious of the depth of this problem and more resolved to mitigate it.

For several weeks, we have read current facts and statistics about heroin abuse. Your feature story has the potential to inspire concerted action from state and city leaders, corrections officials, business executives and the leaders of religious, educational, social welfare and neighborhood leaders across the region. We need a "full-court press" on this problem.

[continues 105 words]

Drug and alcohol addiction is a sad but increasingly commonplace story ("Baltimore County family struggles with impact of heroin's grip," March 21).

For a long time I believed addiction was simply a problem of a lack of willpower on the user's part. I thought it resulted from poor judgment and personal character flaws.

But as I became aware of the nefarious nature of addiction, I realized it is not a moral issue but truly an illness. I am praying for the family mentioned in your article, and for all others who are struggling with addiction.

Tom Holmes, Lutherville

[end]

In August 2012, law enforcement stopped Mandrel Stuart, the owner of a small barbecue restaurant in Virginia, for a minor traffic violation. During the routine traffic stop, $17,550 that Stuart had earned from his restaurant and intended to use for supplies and equipment was seized.

Stuart was never charged with a crime and there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing. He eventually got his money back, but since he lacked the cash to pay for overhead, he lost his business.

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From gay marriage to marijuana decriminalization, Maryland has been a national leader on social issues in the new century. This year, state legislators and new governor Larry Hogan can further burnish the state's reputation by setting a national example on heroin intervention and death-with-dignity legislation.

Let's start with Governor Hogan's noble call to mitigate heroin addiction and overdose deaths in Maryland. The governor brings personal experience to the issue: He lost a cousin to a heroin overdose.

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Leonhart Tells Senators of Rising Number of Overdose Deaths, Baltimore Task Force

The chief of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration put a spotlight on Maryland's heroin problems during a congressional hearing Thursday.

DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart spoke of the state's rising number of overdose deaths in testimony before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee. She said a DEA task force focusing on heroin in Baltimore is a model for other communities.

"Maryland is the perfect example when we're talking about what it's going to take for our country to actually stem the flow of the rising heroin problem," Leonhart said.

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Regarding your recent report on heroin overdoses, I applaud Gov. Larry Hogan's efforts to reduce such deaths ("Hogan wades into Maryland's long battle against heroin," Feb. 28).

As a treatment professional, we are facing a much more complex problem than drug use. Addiction is a powerful thing, and the governor's new approach is anything but more of the same. Treatment and prevention lie at the heart of the work ahead.

The advocacy community and families impacted by the opioid epidemic approached Mr. Hogan several months ago to share their concerns regarding the devastating impact addiction is having on communities. However, the early coverage of Mr. Hogan's plan harked back to his election campaign and politicized the issue.

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If Americans and political leaders honestly care to lower heroin addiction rates ("War on heroin starts with teens," Feb. 27 and "Hogan creates two panels for fight against heroin," Feb. 25), they should end cannabis (marijuana) prohibition.

An important reason to end cannabis prohibition that doesn't get mentioned is because it increases hard drug addiction rates by putting citizens who choose to use the relatively safe God-given plant into contact with people who often also sell hard drugs.

Furthermore, government claims heroin is no worse than cannabis - and that methamphetamine and cocaine are less harmful drugs - by insisting marijuana is a Schedule I substance alongside heroin, while methamphetamine and cocaine are only Schedule II substances.

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Governor Creates Panels to Focus More on Prevention and Treatment of Addiction

"We're not just reacting to the sudden surge of overdoses and overdoses deaths. We're taking a holistic approach."

With the creation of two panels devoted to combating heroin use, Gov. Larry Hogan has waded into a worsening crisis - one that has defied solutions for decades.

It once looked as if Maryland had brought some measure of control to its long-standing battle against the drug, driving down fatal overdose rates for years. In Baltimore, for example, overdose deaths plunged from more than 300 in 1999 to around 100 in 2010.

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Gov. Larry Hogan's focus on addressing the heroin epidemic ("Hogan creates two panels for fight against heroin," Feb. 25) is a testimony that the scourge of heroin and other substance addictions has garnered bipartisan concern. The next public policy strategy should translate this realization in to greater access to treatment, more targeted public awareness campaigns and increased cooperation between law enforcement, health care and mental health care providers and community leaders.

The efforts by Governor Hogan and others need to focus on teens and young adults. The Maryland Addiction Recovery Center's December, 2014 analysis shows that heroin is now one of the top five drugs abused by teens.

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I find it amusing that the Hogan administration is proposing a "study" to combat heroin addiction in Maryland ("The new face of Md.'s fight against heroin," Feb. 26).

Presumably it will complement the other "study" recently completed by the O'Malley administration. I'm sure the two of them will make lovely bookends in an office somewhere, where they will sit, gather dust and be ignored just like every other "study" the government has commissioned in its futile "war on drugs."

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