FAILED WAR ON DRUGS THREATENS DEMOCRACY

Neal Peirce's column "Reform who can vote, how we vote" (Opinion
Commentary, Dec. 21) staggered me. I had not realized that the loss of
voting rights for convicted felons was creating an outlaw class among
minorities.

However, he failed to point directly to the culprit behind the high figures
for minority incarceration, the failed drug war.

As Mr. Peirce pointed out, the Republicans gained from this sad state of
affairs, so it's up to them to stop the madness.

A good start would be the appointment of a drug czar with a background in
medicine rather than in the military.

In the post-Cold War era there is no greater threat to democracy than the
U.S. drug war.

William P. Jenkins, Bel Air