KUDOS TO GIERACH COLUMN ON DRUG WAR

Once again, James E. Gierach (March 16, guest column) brings needed
attention to the insanity of the un-winnable "war on drugs." This is
really just another war on fellow human beings or a wasted black hole
of taxes, manpower and family hell.

We send members of our families to the police force into the battle
of this wretched scam. We pack the morgues and courtrooms with
casualties. We overload the prisons, and once inside, there is
horrible torture. Far too many of them rotate back to civilization
only to find themselves back in the "war on drugs."

Although I can't help but point out the parallels between this "war
on drugs" and Bush's similar, Texas-style approach to his "war on
terrorism," I need to step back and thank Mr. Gierach for his wisdom,
common sense and humanity. This is about where we live and who we
are. In these times, those of us who agree with Mr. Gierach's
position are simply written off and labeled as "too liberal" and voted down.

If we continue to kill each other for drugs, oil, property, religion,
etc., then we're no longer willing to advance as enlightened human
beings. We're stuck in a quagmire, like the Palestinians and the Israelis.

Michael Cleary

Evergreen Park