CONSEQUENCES OF DRUG WAR

Here is a true story from the front lines of the drug war. A young man in
our neighborhood worked as a carpenter on homes. He supplemented his income
with money he earned from growing and selling marijuana to friends and
friends of friends. He used this extra money to send his daughter to a
private school, since the local public school was considered overcrowded and
dangerous. The drug war eventually caught up with him. He was prosecuted and
spent two years in a state prison. He is now free on probation. He is
divorced, on welfare and cannot find a job because of his criminal record.
His daughter is in public school, without any health insurance.

Three years ago this young, productive, family man was selling pot to his
neighbors. The drug war converted this man into another welfare recipient
who cannot support his family. The DEA investigation, the trial and the
prison term cost taxpayers and his family over a half-million dollars.

Everyone in the neighborhood is asking, who is more dangerous to society? A
man who grows and sells marijuana or a man with a criminal record who cannot
get a job?

HERBERT FEINMAN, TODD FEINMAN Venice