'RACIST' WAR ON DRUGS

Having just read the article, "Reporter dealt light blow in marijuana case"
(A-J, 10-21), I am struck by all of the mean-spirited inanities concerning
our racist war on drugs.

First, I am struck by the fact that we as a society direct law enforcement
and our court system to track down and try a 63-year-old man who had just
returned from his wife's funeral for perpetrating the "evil crime" of
possessing one of God's plants.

Second, the article left unanswered the question that should be coming from
anyone who has been following the apparent racial targeting of the blacks in
Tulia: Was Orr, who was sentenced to no prison time, white or black?

So far, some of the blacks in Tulia have been sentenced to 45, 60, 99 and
even 435 years. Is this another example of the racial discrepancies in
sentencing that recent studies have shown occur on a regular basis in the
United States?

Finally, how does Tulia, a town of some 5,000, generate over 40 "cocaine
dealers"?

GREG SCHORR, The Woodlands Via e-mail