TIME FOR PROP. 5

Editor - I am very disappointed that The Chronicle has suggested
voting "no" on Proposition 5. The justifications that are provided for
this ignorant recommendation are based on antiquated, anti-science
punitive attitudes that have failed our society.

Drug prohibition is both a humanitarian and fiscal failure. We need to
look at a commonsense approach, depending on the substance, that
includes legalization, decriminalization and "medicalization," similar
to what many other civilized countries are doing.

Feeding low-level offenders to the bloated, unaccountable harmful
monstrosity known as the Prison Industrial Complex is not working.
Roughly 1 out of 5 people in California have a record and according to
the Justice Policy Institute, we incarcerate more people for
non-violent drug offenses in the United States than the European Union
does for all offenses combined - and the EU has a 100 million more
people.

Let's stop pouring money into failure and funnel it into education,
prevention, health care, treatment and programs proven to give us much
more bang for our buck than the tired, failed intervention of
incarceration.

It's time for change. Vote "yes" on Prop. 5.

William Buehlman

San Francisco