DRUGS, POVERTY CORRUPT MEXICAN AND U.S. JUSTICE

The U.S. press often blames other countries for our domestic social
problems. This has been the standard procedure in the war on drugs.

The Sun's article on corruption in Mexico's judicial system, for instance,
made no connection between what is going on in Mexico and on the streets of
major U.S. cities ("Shining light on shadowy legal system," July 4).

If there were no demand for drugs in the U.S., the supply of drugs from
countries such as Colombia and Mexico would dry up.

The article suggests that the Mexican judicial system is not functioning.
Any reader of The Sun knows that Baltimore's judicial system is also failing.

The roots of Mexico's official corruption and drug mafia lie in the
country's poverty. The same is true of drug use and related crime in the
United States.

Both problems would begin to be resolved if governments would seriously
address poverty, both on the local and international levels.

Thomas Ward, Baltimore