FUNDING FOR DRUG WAR COULD BE BETTER SPENT ELSEWHERE

Columnist Debra Saunders ("Ending war on drugs has downside," Tuesday)
can't make up her mind. First she says that legalizing drugs would lead to
an increase in drug usage, then states that no one knows what would happen
if the United States legalized drugs.

Anyone who objectively examines the results of the illegal-drug policy has
to admit that things can't get much worse. Children are lured into drugs by
dealers after huge profits. Legalization would remove these profits.

Authorities estimate that up to 90 percent of crime is drug-related.
Legalization would prevent this crime. Legalizing and controlling drugs
could mean that we know where they are and who is using them. This is
essential is if we are to ever reduce drug use.

Despite the government having spent billions of dollars to keep drugs off
the streets, drugs are so plentiful that prices are dropping. These
billions need to be spent educating the young and treating the addicted.

If the collective minds in this country can't come up with something better
than what we have, our society is doomed.

Lloyd Gayton, Concord