DRUG TESTING CAN BE SUSPECT

Re: "Substance-abuse act dangerous, misleading" (Letters, June 23):

Sheriff Bill Kolender assured us that mandatory testing of drug addicts has
been proven to work.

But even court-ordered drug testing results can be altered to make it
appear that the subjects were not using illegal drugs. Any person with
access to a computer printer or copier can change the test results, and the
overburdened Department of Social Services accepts it.

This informal approach to treatment needs a lot of work before Kolender or
the courts can assume that it is effective.

Laurie Cohen, San Diego

It is not surprising to hear Kolender praise a system that keeps him and
his cohorts employed.

But the reality is that jails are more crowded, drug abuse is at an
all-time high and taxpayers pay more and more each year to incarcerate
people in places where they are able to continue their illicit drug habits.

I don't think a sheriff who can't keep drugs out of jail is in a position
to tell the public how to keep them out of their homes.

B.J. Prine, La Mesa