TRUTH BEHIND PROBLEM NEEDED TO FIGHT DRUGS

It's foolish to believe that whether someone might have used drugs in the
past makes them a good or bad leader or person (RE: "Media urged to check
Bush Rumors". Letters, Aug.5).

I say, so what? If George Bush did or didn't do illegal drugs in the past,
it doesn't seem to have affected his ability to lead. Will he deny medicine
to sick people? Will he tell us that there are less dangerous drugs
available to children on the streets because they're only available in a
black market? Does he believe that if cocaine, heroin and marijuana were
miraculously eradicated from the face of the earth that people wouldn't
find substitutes?

These are questions that really matter.

The most probable scenario is Bush will be forced into the ranks of the
"lets get tougher on drugs" mob. But corruption will continue to spread and
prisons will continue to grow and suck more money from taxpayers and ensure
that hundreds of thousands of drug offenders are unemployable. The drug
problem will just get worse.

The solution is for people to get off their lazy behinds and investigate
the whole story of the drug problem. Everyone knows that drug abuse is
harmful. It's well known that drug profits in the hands of criminals
increase their power. There's a lot more to learn, such as the success of
alternative strategies compared to our longtime strategy's failure.

Gregg Davis