WAR ON DRUGS GOES TOO FAR

In his Nov. 3 letter, Jerry Ritter says, "Reporter David Steves calls the
success of Measure 3 `an achievement of people trying to roll back the war
on drugs.' This characterization is neither fair nor accurate." Not fair or
accurate? Excuse me?

It was the government's war on (some) drugs that led to the abuses that in
turn led to Measure 3. Remember what happened when the state tried to
recriminalize pot? It was beaten back by a 2-to-1 margin after an
initiative signature drive that amassed 100,000 signatures in less than 40
days to qualify for the ballot.

Some folks in Eugene-Springfield remember when Norm Majors, a great guy
(and in a wheelchair) had his house seized because he was growing a little
herb in his basement. It cost him more than $20,000 and a lot of grief.
Bill Conde's property had seizure papers filed against it for the five
months Linn County Sheriff's Department and the state police pored over the
data in his computers looking for the evidence that would prove he was a
major drug kingpin (of course, no such evidence ever materialized).

And I'm fairly certain one or two of the folks mentioned by Ritter -
"Commissioner Bill Dwyer, Floyd Prozanski, George Soros and the countless
others" - are adamantly opposed to the barbaric tactics (such as property
seizure and racial profiling) waged by our government in the name of the
war on drugs. I know I am, and I am one of the voters Steves was talking
about. When it comes to the war on drugs, I say: "Roll it back, push it
back, waaaay back!"

ALLAN ERICKSON

Eugene