AMERICANS TOO APATHETIC ABOUT WAR ON DRUGS

Re: "Legalizing some drugs would remove "criminal element,'" The Open
Forum, June 5.

The letter by Joseph and Caroline Kandel makes a lot of worthwhile
points, particularly about who benefits from the continual enforcement
of the unjust drug war. But their claim that putting them under
prescription control, while helpful, would not remove the criminal
element. The same black-market opportunities are still there.

What is most confounding about the drug war is the utter apathy of the
American people. We stand silently by as our constitutional rights of
privacy, property and freedom are casually debased.

Oh, we do have the gun lobby loudly defending its rights, though you
never hear it complain of other cases of confiscation without due
process. Nor does it stand up for the many non-violent people doing hard
time for mere possession.

The only way to get criminals out of drugs is to decriminalize drugs.

John J. Healy,
Centennial