MARIJUANA ARRESTS COST TAXPAYERS MILLIONS

Regarding a Nov. 25 letter and the author's "slippery slope" of
marijuana decriminalization, a few facts should be considered before
opining about the evils of marijuana.

The FBI's 2006 Uniform Crime Reports, released Sept. 12, 2007,
revealed that marijuana arrests reached record numbers for the fourth
year in a row with 829,627 arrests, or one arrest every 38 seconds.
Eighty-nine percent were for possession, not sale or manufacture.
Meanwhile, marijuana use rates remain far higher than they were 15
years ago when marijuana arrests totaled nearly a third the current
number.

Marijuana arrests, which constitute 5.54 percent of all U.S. arrests,
cost taxpayers an estimated $10.7 billion each year, including the
price of incarceration.

The war on drugs provides a steady stream of income for the privately
owned corporate prison industry and destroys families by breaking them
up. Back in the day, when liberals like President Nixon were directing
domestic policy, drug use was treated as a public health issue, not a
criminal issue.

America, with 5 percent of the world's population, holds 25 percent of
the world's prisoners. In 2007 we surpassed Russia for the number of
citizens incarcerated, many in for-profit prisons.

It is time to decriminalize marijuana use and approach drug addiction
as a public health issue. It would be a better use of our tax dollars.

Joe D'Alessandro

Wailuku