TRY HEALTH APPROACH TO TREAT DRUG CRIMES

The article "Court system overwhelmed, Baltimore prosecutor says" (Jan. 7)
stated that "felony drug cases alone have tripled in the past eight years."

Where is Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke when Baltimore's overwhelmed criminal
justice system needs him most? Now, more than ever, is the time for the
very intelligent and compassionate mayor to push for the decriminalization
of narcotics so that sick addicts get treatment and suspected murderers get
trials.

The Suggs family's only child is gone, and a little boy has lost a loving
father. The public outcry in response to this is for more courts, more
judges and more police -- not for more genuine mercy and justice.

Earlier this century, the American public was outraged when gangster Al
Capone murdered six people in a Chicago garage during Prohibition.

Prohibition was soon repealed. But that does not seem likely today. Leaders
are too cynical and scared to offer and follow up with unpopular but humane
and rational solutions to problems in a society that insanely values power
and control over everything else.

Peggy Barr
Baltimore