TOUGH-ON-DRUGS POLICIES HAVEN'T WORKED IN U.S.

I'm writing about the outstanding March 28 letter from Mett Ausley
Jr., "N.C. should learn lesson from Oklahoma."

I'd like to add that keeping the ingredients of meth behind the
counter is certainly a lot better solution than the previous
nonsolution 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
its 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 U.S. 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 is locked in an American jail or prison. What message does
this send to the rest of the world?

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Az.