ALTERNATIVES NEEDED IN DRUG WAR

The news about the indictment of Rep. Keith Stallworth, D-Detroit, is
unfortunate but not surprising -- realizing that these are only charges,
and those indicted are innocent until proven guilty.

Drug prohibition has given us international drug cartels, widespread
corruption, impure drugs that kill and injure thousands each year and
easy access for anyone who wants them. Drug prohibition has given us
children selling drugs in the streets, killings over drug-selling turf
and huge profits for those who are willing to take the risks. It has
also made our country the world leader in incarceration.

What will it take before our country is willing to learn from our
history? Alcohol prohibition didn't work. It created gangsters like Al
Capone, was responsible for killing thousands and was finally repealed.
Like alcohol prohibition in the early 1900s, the drug war is causing
tremendous societal harm while failing miserably at preventing drug use.

Drugs are a medical and social problem that we're treating like a
law-enforcement problem. The war on drugs is a miserable failure; let's
look to some sensible alternatives.

Debra S. Wright, Ann Arbor