THIS IS SUCCESS?

I applaud the Star-Banner for its recent coverage of the overcrowding of
Florida prisons due to the influx of drug war prisoners.

I would like to remind you and all Star-Banner readers that Florida Drug
Czar James McDonough and Gov. Jeb Bush vociferously opposed efforts to
reform Florida drug laws so that all nonviolent drug offenders would
receive addiction treatment in lieu of jail sentences.

In essence, they utilized tax dollars to fight a citizen's ballot
initiative that would have afforded all Floridians the same deal provided
to the governor's drug-addicted daughter Noelle.

Bush and McDonough have been touting the effectiveness of their strategy
for several years now -- and during last year's election their progress
report on the governor's web site claimed to have increased treatment
funding and reduced drug use in Florida by 31 percent.

But how can these claims possibly be true given the soaring number of drug
offenders in prisons across the state, the huge increases in overdoses from
drugs like heroin and cocaine, the escalating problems with designer drug
trafficking, the methamphetamine problem, and the massive prescription drug
death toll?

Perhaps the Star-Banner and its readership might like to re-evaluate
McDonough's and Bush's claims of success in their drug control strategy?

Steve Hach, Gainesville