POZO BUST IS ANOTHER LOST BATTLE IN THE WAR ON DRUGS

As a taxpayer I am outraged at the cost of deploying 50 officers to
bust up a peaceful music festival ("What happened in Pozo?" July 8),
to arrest a few questionable "drug pushers." I am dismayed at the
lengths the police will go to win a few brownie points. In my
estimation those officers are cowards. Why don't they go after the
really big pushers, the cartels? But the big guys carry guns. The
police seem to get their high by pushing little guys around.

I don't condone drug use, but it is my feeling that after years and
years and mega billions of tax dollars spent, we are not beginning to
make a dent in the war on drugs. It is a hopelessly lost cause. The
more we spend fighting it the wealthier the big guys get and the more
crime is involved as a result. As the old saying goes, if you don't
learn from history you are bound to repeat it. Doesn't anyone remember
Prohibition?

We should decriminalize drugs and take the profit out of the trade.
Clean out the prisons and save that space for violent offenders. Take
the money saved to help our social institutions. Just think of the
money that could be spent on programs to educate and rehabilitate
those who are addicted. Could it be that too many people in high
places benefit by maintaining the status quo?

Nancy Ruhl

Los Osos