TAXPAYERS SHOULDN'T FUND DRUG WAR OR TREATMENT

Thanks to Dr. Federico Cruz-Uribe for speaking out regarding the horrific
war on drugs (Perspectives, 7-22). After spending vast sums on prisons,
prosecutors, courts and law enforcement, our country is not one step closer
to ridding the nation of drugs.

Dr. Cruz-Uribe proposes tax-funded treatment to replace tax-funded
incarceration. But is this consistent? If it is wrong to force taxpayers to
fund prisons for drug crimes, how is it right to force them to fund treatment?

The addiction problem was not created by the taxpayers. It was created by
the individuals who chose the road to addiction. If those individuals want
treatment, they should pay for it themselves. And the state should withdraw
from the drug war altogether.

Patricia Michl, Sumner