TAKING ON HEROIN

Re "A lethal business model targets Middle America," Feb. 14, "Black
tar moves in, and death follows," Feb. 15, and "Xalisco's good life
can mean death in the U.S.," Feb. 16

Reading your series made me more mad about what the drug pushers have
done to our children here in the United States.

I'm a father of a former drug addict who has been clean for more than
six years. Almost everywhere I go, I hear of people who have had a
relative or someone they know involved in drugs. It's an epidemic, and
the sooner we take care of it, the better. The present strategy
against drugs is a joke and is not working. We expect Mexico to do
everything, which is not going to happen. The most marginalized people
in Mexico have no other alternative but to get involved in the trade,
for lack of jobs and opportunity.

My suggestion: Once a pusher is caught and found guilty, he or she
should be sentenced to the death penalty. Also, this penalty should be
administered in a swift manner, so it doesn't become another joke.

Simon Mendoza

Baldwin Park