NO SENSIBLE DRUG POLICY

DEAR BETH: There is no sensible drug policy in this country! Incarcerating
people for drug possession is not working. The prisons are overflowing. Why
don't the policy makers realize the futility and stupidity of these actions
and formulate a sound, workable policy?

The attorney generals got together and proved cigarettes cause billions of
dollars of damage to people. Conversely, the liquor industry seems well
insulated from lawsuits blaming them for being the root cause of
alcohol-related accidents and murders.

Society ends up paying these costs, since we must pay the premiums to
insurance companies that pay the damages as accidents accelerate and
societal costs rise.

Compare the prison sentences given to people possessing cocaine or
marijuana to the lack of responsibility accorded to the liquor industry for
death and dismemberment. Drunks know they can drink and drive and kill with
impunity due to lenient sentences.

A drunk with two convictions hit a motorcyclist head on, then ran him over
and left the scene. He received four years incarceration, and the paper
said he might be out in 18 months. Yet a young man can get 10 years for
just possessing a small amount of marijuana.

It's obvious the justice system is in need of major reform. And alcohol is
the worst offender but the least accountable.

One of your readers wrote that we need to "spend money on new schools,
teachers, real drug education and treatment, and provide after-school
activities so kids have an alternative to hanging out." This makes sense.

R.C.

I wholeheartedly agree and encourage you to send your good letter on to
your state and federal representatives.