PAST TIME TO RETHINK NATION'S DRUG LAWS

To the Editor: Richard O'connor's Letter, "Drug War's Cure Worse Than
Disease," Printed on Dec. 2, Hit the Nail on the Head.

This country has spent at least $1 trillion in the past 40 years
fighting a so-called "war on drugs" that cannot and will not be won.
That's not counting the billions of dollars and millions of lives put
on hold or ruined by getting jailed for possession of drugs.

In the past week, two people were jailed -- one with four percocet
pills and another with five. If I remember correctly, percocet is a
pain killer. In the same week, the former chief of police of Bethel
pleaded guilty to distributing crack cocaine.

He wasn't the first. How can we expect to keep the citizens off of
drugs when the police can't keep their own houses clean?

Of course, if we were to decriminalize drugs, how could they justify
the new police cars every two years, the size of the police and
sheriff's departments, the new jails and extra jailers needed to man
them, the courts, judges, support staff and so on? Legalize drugs,
and I would bet that half of those behind bars would be released, the
court backlog would disappear and taxes could finally be reduced to a
reasonable rate for years to come. It is past time to reconsider the
drug laws and redirect law enforcement to where it is needed --
namely, violent crime and crime against persons and property.

John George

Jacksonville