FAILED POLICIES

I'm writing about Mindy Farabee's story: "Remaking California Prisons"
(Sept. 6).

Unfortunately, the common-sense solution to California's prison
problem lies in Washington, DC -- not Sacramento.

Since the vast majority of all of our violent crime and property crime
is caused not by drugs but rather our drug-prohibition policies, the
common-sense solution is to relegalize all of our now illegal drugs.
Then the drugs can be sold in legal, regulated and licensed business
establishments.

Then drug dealers as we know them today will disappear for economic
reasons.

Then our so-called "drug-related crime" will be in our past -- not our
future.

Most people currently employed in law enforcement are against the
relegalization of our now illegal drugs. That's because we would need
far fewer law enforcement personnel if all drugs were
relegalized.

However, there is one organization made up of law enforcement
personnel who favor the relegalization of all drugs despite the fact
that it's against their own economic self-interest to do so. That
organization is called LEAP (Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition).

I suggest that readers visit the LEAP Web site at www.leap.cc.

Then arrange for a speaker from LEAP to give an informative and
entertaining talk about our current and past drug policies to any
organization or group.

Most will arrive at the LEAP talk skeptical; most will leave convinced
- -- convinced it is time to make major changes to our nation's drug
policies.

Kirk Muse,

Mesa, Ariz.