''TOUGH JUSTICE'': A RACIST WASTE OF MONEY AND LIVES?

Much of the police crackdown on inner-city crime involves a crackdown
on people associated with illegal drugs in some way. If these people
were not subjected to police actions because the drugs were legally
regulated, and if drug use were treated similarly to alcohol and
tobacco use, crime would drop dramatically, and the costs to society
would plummet.

Instead, we have handed a monopoly to organized crime, ruined many
lives, and drawn unflattering international attention to ourselves
because of our astronomical incarceration rate. Rather than treat
those who seek treatment to get off drugs and leave the rest alone, we
dispense a brutal solution to their problems and in turn create
greater problems for society.

Keith Brilhart,
Decatur, Ill.