TIME FOR A DIFFERENT APPROACH

Re: "Fear of crime wave grows," Dec. 28.

It's the same old head-in-the-sand ideology. Is it not time we took a
different approach? The more things are illegal, the more crime we
see. Either way, people get what they want. The gangs grow stronger as
the need for drugs grows in an unregulated, black market
environment.

Is it not time we took a different approach, like we did with alcohol?
Legalizing drugs will hurt gangs, while the current system seems to
exist to create enforcement and corrections jobs. Is it not time to
take the drugs out of our streets and make it harder for our children
to get them? I say we need to let the people vote on the idea of
legalizing drugs. The government needs to try something different.

Debbie Fagin

(No, but it's an easy issue with which to scare people.)