TIME TO DECRIMINALIZE DRUGS

Re "To win drug war, cut demand" (Letters, Oct. 28): Kristi
Anderson's recommendation to win the war on drugs by cutting demand
just screams for a response due to its ignorance.

Since time began on earth, it has been a basic need and quest of
human beings to alter their senses. Making a drug illegal or
preaching to someone of its evils will make zero difference. You
could fill the entire Central Valley with prisons, and you still
would have no impact.

Until we wake up and decriminalize the use of all drugs as Portugal
has done, we will continue to bankrupt this country. I have been a
health care provider in our state prison system for almost 25 years.
I make a lot of money. In the end, though, it's a shame. On a daily
basis, I treat many sharp young people who should never have been
locked up in the first place.

Geoffrey D. Webster, Folsom