REDIRECT DRUG POLICIES

It seems that our newly selected president is backsliding on promises made,
and the "new" attitude is the same old wolf preying on the good work of others.

Our drug policies are ineffective and cost-prohibitive. We are being told
that all drug users are criminal and responsible for their actions, yet
current research tells us that drug addiction is a disease and should be
treated as such.

Current drug interdiction policies waste valuable resources and attack
drug-induced behavior instead of correcting the source of the condition.

We as a society can't compete with the money the drug trade generates, nor
can we eliminate that which changes our perception. Regulation does not
work, and the limited successes that we are fed come at a time when these
resources could be used for treatment and decriminalization and the
restoration of our civil rights.

We must empty our jails and redirect our efforts to help those who are in
need. How long can we afford to delude ourselves to continue the direct
link of criminal activity and drug addiction.

Kudos to the governor of New Mexico and his insight into the reality that
we must direct our efforts to change our drug laws and their abuses. Sadly,
the paranoid politics will kill his wisdom and allow the uncontrolled
abuses of our drug policies to continue. We must take back our destiny or
our fear will rule our good intentions.

George G. Brooks

Eugene