KUDOS TO JONES

Dear Editor,

Kudos to former Deputy Chief Michael Jones in his telling missive,
"The Policy on Drugs,"19 July 2007. The question now becomes, why do
policy makers not listen to commissions like the one he mentions from
Britain's Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures,
and Commerce [RSA]? There have been a dozen such commissions in the
past century always saying the same thing. None suggest anything
about having a Drug War. The answer is simple, too much money passes
into the "right hands." It's always about money no matter on which
side you stand. Drug cartels have control of the most precious
farming and processing land in the world, and law enforcement has
control of our tax dollars and of course, some law enforcement are on
the side of the cartels. Drug War is the main reason law enforcement
does not have the respect of all citizens.

Deputy Chief Jones also makes a very good point about the
disenfranchisement of drug felons. In most states they cannot vote
nor serve on a jury. This process has reform stagnated while
maintaining the status quo. What if more informed juries refused to
convict? Certainly, it is not until our elected fear loss of power at
the voting booth that this situation will change. Issues like medical
marijuana (pot for the sick and dying) have become a states rights
issue, the kind supposedly held sacred by our Commander in Chief
(before election). Even in states where voters and legislatures have
passed protection laws, patients are being handed over for federal
prosecution. Unconscionable! How can such disparity exist? Such is
the state of our drug policy. Time to change this crazy policy or
send our federal policymakers home.

Peter Christopher

Hurdle Mills, NC