END THE DRUG WAR

I've had enough of this "drug war." We lost a long time ago, but egomaniac
politicians will not admit it. This has devolved into an international
embarrassment and has cost too many innocent lives. It's time to rethink
our strategies on dealing with drug abuse.

I hope I'm not the only one who noticed that the more money we throw, the
less good it does. I heard a plan that wants to make methamphetamine more
expensive to discourage use. Duh! Addicts will just rob, burglarize and
carjack us to pay for their fixes.

I've heard that people are upset that meth trafficking turns dealers into
millionaires. How many people remember Al Capone, Meyer Lansky and Bugsy
Siegel? This history lesson shows how prohibition breeds crime and make
criminals wealthy. Drug addiction isn't a crime; it is a sickness.

Robert Long

Modesto, Feb. 16