A PRISONER'S VIEW OF DRUGS

A letter from a Pike County resident who is in the state penitentiary at
Parchman makes some valid insights about the way Mississippi and the nation
are struggling with the drug problem. Few people would know more about this
topic than someone in prison because of drugs. Here are some of the
comments from Larry B. Andrews, who recently filed court papers dropping
his effort to get out of prison before his sentence is finished:

"First, and what's most important to me, I would like to apologize to any
person or place within our community for the crimes that I committed. As
sorry as I am, I don't have the power to go back and undo that which has
been done. Therefore I am content to serve out my sentence and not try to
override public policy.

"As a society, we are demonizing drug addicts in the most shameless way
imaginable. Drug addicts are being made the scapegoat for societal problems
they didn't cause and cannot change. ... America has created a
mean-spirited society toward drug addicts.

"Instead of pretending that drugs are going to go away, we should do
everything we can to minimize the negative impact of drugs. ... The
existing laws have perversely turned state prisons that used to house
primarily violent criminals into expensive warehouses for non-violent drug
addicts. ... There have been some important lessons learned and our state
Legislature and circuit courts have failed to learn them: We cannot build
nor arrest and sentence our way out of the problem of chronic drug abuse
and drug-driven crime; and harsh penalties do not deter drug addicts.

"I would argue that drug addicts are powerless over drugs and they lack
skills and tools needed to combat them. I think alcohol is a lot more
insidious than cocaine in that alcohol kills about 150,000 people per year
and that does not include deaths from drinking and driving. Tobacco kills
about 400,000 people per year and cocaine rocks kill 3,000 people a year.

"Eighty percent of drug addicts sent to prison have never been convicted of
a violent crime but are serving longer prison sentences than some violent
offenders that are convicted of aggravated assault. Sixty percent of these
addicts are convicted of property crimes.

"Drug treatment has cut recidivism rates significantly. The only thing
standing in the way of reform is political cowardice. Some of our
legislators lack the guts to challenge the status quo for fear they will be
considered soft on crime.

"I'm uneducated but I am blessed with common sense. What those laws are
doing is not fair. ... Changing these laws will require common sense and
backbone on the part of our Legislature. When something doesn't work, you
have to think of another alternative."