HIGHER THINKING

Responses to Bode Olakanmi's June 27 column, "Ending the war on drugs
with decriminalization?"

This is an excellent article. The worst tragedy of the drug war is
that the "Land of the Free" now has the world's largest prison system.
The second-worst tragedy is the lack of reasonable debate on how to
change this. Your article, and some recent developments, are steps in
the right direction.

Because mainstream politicians are addicted to the tax money that
comes in for the drug war and are afraid to campaign for drug-war
reform, the only way to make a difference is through grass-roots
efforts that end with ballot initiatives or support for rare local
politicians with political courage (such as the governor of Maryland
and the former governor of New Mexico). There is also, finally, a
presidential candidate (Dennis Kucinich) who is taking a more
reasonable stand on some drug issues. That his opponents haven't even
mentioned it is an encouraging sign.

The first step that will make a real difference will be when the
federal government allows states to try their own unique approaches to
fighting the harm of drug abuse, whether it be medical marijuana,
decriminalization, prescription heroin, needle exchange, whatever.
European countries and Canada are trying new approaches, too; if the
United States would pay attention to what other countries do, perhaps
we could learn a thing or two.

Mark Lehrer, Salt Lake City resident