WAR ON DRUGS FAILED; IT'S TIME TO MAKE CHANGES

I have read numerous letters pro and con about the failed Kids and
Cops ballot measure. It appears both sides missed the target. The
problem is prohibition of drugs.

I read one letter from M.L. Trotta on May 28 that the problem will
continue until our legislators take Draconian steps. We could take
steps like Singapore and execute all drug users. Do we want this in a
free society?

I can understand why the business folks pushing this idea were
shocked. They are so out of touch with the reality of a failed drug
war that neither they nor the citizens of Salem seem capable of
grasping the root of the problem.

In recent times, such conservatives as William F. Buckley have called
for an end to the failed war on drugs. Yet not one citizen in this
city has done so.

I am all for hard time for real crime. It's time to end the war on
drugs and start holding people responsible for car thefts and
burglary. All the money in the world will not solve this war first
declared by President Nixon. It's time we legalize, regulate and educate.

Paul Stone, Salem