DRUG STINGS AT HIGH SCHOOLS WASTE TAX DOLLARS

As the father of a student who was arrested in a similar high school sting
many years ago, I feel compelled to speak out about the undercover cadet
program ("12 students arrested in drug investigation at three high
schools," April 17). This entrapment program has been allowed to continue
for years and is a self-fulfilling police program.

The cadets are placed in the school, befriend targeted students, badger
them to get drugs and then bust them before graduation. Just look at the
numbers: Very few kids were caught after a seven-month investigation, just
as in previous years.

Twelve students in three high schools after seven months seems like a waste
of taxpayer money.

Once again, no drug lords are exposed, no drug rings are discovered, and
the lives of 12 students and their parents will be put through holy hell in
our judicial system, while families spend thousands of dollars to defend
their children.

Go catch real criminals with our tax money and leave our teen-agers alone.

Harvey Woolf