'3 STRIKES' LAW STRIKES OUT IN WAR ON DRUGS

Regarding the editorial, "MODIFYING THREE STRIKES" on May 1: The war on
drugs warehouses drug users. This punitive policy weighs heavy on the
taxpayer and is a failure.

California has about 163,000 prisoners and more than 3,000 non-violent
offenders have been sentenced under the "Three Strikes" law. Approximately
700 were sentenced for minor drug possession to a minimum of 25 years to
life at a cost of $27,000 a year. On the other hand, drug treatment costs
about $5,000.

Prisons do not offer much in the way of rehabilitation, education,
vocational training or drug treatment. Wouldn't you think these tools
would help prisoners gain a successful life?

I hear again and again that drug abuse leads to crime. If our politicians
and law enforcement departments are aware of this, then why are they not
insisting on rehabilitation instead of more prisons and prison guards? The
recidivism rate in California is 77 percent. What is wrong with this picture?

Since 1982 we have built 21 prisons and one university. Californians were
told that the three-strikes law was for violent crime. We did not read the
fine print to understand that non-violent offenders would be sentenced to a
minimum of 25 years to life with "any" third felony. Many misdemeanors are
enhanced to a felony under this law. AB 1652 will amend the three-strikes
law so that minor drug possession would not be a strike. Isn't it time we
look for solutions that build people and not prisons?

Vivian Moen
Fountain Valley, CA