DRUG WAR COSTS

You published two interesting letters on illegal drug policy ("Drugs in
America," Nov. 22).

I agree with Rolf Ernst's point of view ("I've been there") and wanted to
point out one flaw with Barbara Sneed's ("Gateway snared my daughter"). It
seemed from the tone of her letter that her daughter's problems began after
she was arrested for marijuana possession. I would be willing to bet her
daughter had been involved with marijuana for some time before getting caught.

Yet she was able to be the best athlete on her team. Now she has a criminal
record that will follow her for the rest of her life.

While there is no guarantee that her daughter would not have some problem
related to her drug use, arresting her did ensure that her life would be
made more difficult.

Criminalizing 100 percent of a group because 5 percent of that group might
cause some problem is a failed policy. Seventy percent of our prison
population is there for nonviolent drug-related offenses.

The current war on drugs has ruined more lives than the drug use ever would
have. Let's get sensible and reserve our prison space for the likes of
Kenneth McDuff, who was probably paroled to make room for some poor fool
caught smoking a joint in his back yard. There are better ways to spend our
money.

JOE SCHNEIDER
2823 Staffordshire Dr.
Carrollton, Tx 75006
972-446-8994

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski