ILLEGAL DRUGS REDUCE PUBLIC SAFETY

Re: "Legalizing pot doesn't make us safer.

We are winning the fight against drug use and abuse, says James
Capra," Tuesday Viewpoints.

As a police officer who worked the trenches for 18 years, my
experience is that marijuana prohibition dramatically reduces public safety.

Street cops spend millions of hours chasing adults who use marijuana
in their homes. Detectives spend hundreds of thousands of hours
searching for pot gardens. Every hour spent in this pursuit is one
less hour to arrest the deadly DUI, the child porn producers and
others who would hurt innocents.

Mr. Capra of the DEA either was never a street cop, or he is worried
about losing his job and pension. Given a choice, most street cops
would rather spend time arresting a DUI, not an adult using marijuana
in his or her home.

Howard Wooldridge, Dallas