VALUABLE DOLLARS MISSPENT IN DRUG WAR

The cover story "Drug agents can't keep up with pot growers" made me
wonder, once again, why authorities bother (News, Thursday).

As a California taxpayer, it angers me to see money and resources
wasted on pot eradication while our schools and drug treatment
programs go begging. Meanwhile, the efforts of CAMP -- Campaign
Against Marijuana Planting -- and our misguided drug policy serve only
to make drugs more available, and easier for my children to obtain
than alcohol.

It is time to take all this money and put it toward treatment, so we
can address what should always have been a public health problem --
not a law enforcement issue.

Daniel Witherell, Mount Shasta, Calif.