STROLLING GROUP COULD CUT DOWN ON DRUG TRAFFIC

The article about Mayor Bauman's walking tour of the Bram's Addition
neighborhood was quite thought provoking. Of particular interest were
comments by Sister Mary Ellen Lewis, who works for St. Martin House and
is a member of the South Madison Anti-Drug Coalition. She said, "If a
group like us strolled down here every night, there soon wouldn't be any
drug trafficking going on."

Sounds like a great solution. Imagine the money we could save on law
enforcement; not to mention the extra level of safety for our police and
our neighborhoods. And, we could get some exercise and re-establish
connections with our neighbors.

Sister Mary Ellen Lewis' comments come at a crucial time. As our society
comes to terms with the failure of the drug war we will need more
innovative solutions like this to get a handle on what is now a
completely unregulated and dangerous black market for illegal drugs.
Let's hope the Mayor was listening.

Jon Hain,
Madison