Regarding "Prop. 47: Right, right, right - wrong" (Oct. 16): I am a certified chemical dependency counselor working with this population for more than 20 years. Here's the truth: Treatment is more cost-effective than prison. Prop 47 will change sentences for only the lowest-level drug and property offenses. In the first five years $1 billion would go to K-12 education, mental health, drug treatment and services for crime victims. We've been locking people up with a chemical dependency problem and it's costing us $60,000 a year per person. We could instead spend that on teachers, counselors and even police officers and save. Raymond Rivera San Diego [end]
Almost every college student these days remembers hearing these words while watching a Transformers cartoon or the Donahue talk show: "This is your brain (an egg) this is your brain on drugs (frying pan with egg sizzling) any questions?" The comparison of an egg frying in a pan to your brain on drugs was a highly recognized anti-drug commercial. And who could forget Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign. All school children in the '80s and early '90s were forced to draw "Just Say No" posters for prizes. [continues 732 words]
