DISPROPORTIONATE FIGURES

To the Editor

Regarding the article "Tennessee targets meth" (March 31, p. 1)), keeping
the ingredients of meth behind the counter of pharmacies is certainly a lot
better solution than the previous non-solution of building more and bigger
prisons.

Oklahoma learned the hard way that the so-called "tough on drugs" policies
don't work and they are very expensive. Largely because of their "tough on
drugs" policies, Oklahoma became the fourth highest state for incarcerations.

Largely because of our war on drugs policies, the United States has been
transformed into the most incarcerated nation in the history of human
civilization. Even though we in the United States have fewer than 5 percent
of the world's population, we have more than 25 percent of the world's
prisoners.

In other words, one out of every four prisoners in the world in locked in
an American jail or prison. What message does this send to the rest of the
world?

Kirk Muse

Mesa, AZ