TREAT DRUG USE AS PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE, NOT CRIME

The letter "Funding anti-drug efforts wise investment" seems to be
based entirely on opinion. It's naive to believe that criminalizing
drug users is effective when one looks at the statistics and
consequences.

In 2005, this country spent more than $45 billion on all aspects of
the drug war. In 2006, nearly 800,000 Americans were incarcerated for
marijuana offenses. Drug convictions inhibit their ability to receive
financial aid for college and to find a good job.

I Corinthians 15:33 says "Bad company corrupts good morals." These
minor drug offenders are spending their time in the company of
murderers, rapists, child molesters, etc.

Drugs may cause some people to commit crimes, but law enforcement
should punish the actual crime, not the drug use. If drugs were legal,
the black market would vanish and the turf wars would be extinct.

I believe the bottom line is, who owns our body? Do we own our own
body? Does the government? Does God? As free Americans, should the
government punish us for putting something in our bodies?

The drugs we deem legal -- cigarettes, alcohol and prescription drugs
- -- combined kill more than 500,000 Americans annually, compared with
less than 20,000 deaths annually caused by illicit drug use. (Zero
marijuana deaths.)

The war on drugs is inaccurate, it is a war on drug users. It is a
shame that our country creates criminals instead of treating drug use
as what it is, a public health issue.

Jacob Lee

Montgomery