STOP 'WAR ON DRUGS'

It is a national disgrace that about one in every 31 adults in America
is in jail or on supervised release. Cal Thomas and Bob Beckel
highlight the problem and offer five suggestions to address the issue.

I have a suggestion that could reduce the numbers of people who have
to go to prison and that would benefit society. It would do the following:

Recognize a problem that should be medically treated and not
incarcerated.

Reduce crime with the cataclysmic drop in the price of street drugs,
making it no longer necessary to rob, assault or kill to feed an addiction.

Go a long way toward balancing city, county, state and federal
budgets by cutting law enforcement, shrinking the need for prisons,
and freeing up crowded court dockets.

Yes, it is time we recognize the absolute failure of the so-called war
on drugs -- with its bankrupting expense -- and decriminalize drug use.
America has a habit of not getting rid of things that don't work. We
can do better.

R. Sloan Wilson

Rye, N.H.