JUST PERPETUATING DRUG INDUSTRY

Dear Editor:

All my life I have resided in either Livingston or Tangipahoa Parish.

I am finally fed up with the corruption that lies within our local political
system. One of the worst problems that is not being dealt with properly is
the control of crystal meth dealers.

Many of you may have never heard of or know very little about meth. The lab
name is methamphetamine, but the street name, as most know it, is crank.

What our local politicians forget to inform us of is the severity that this
drug has grown to. This drug is flooding our streets and neighborhoods. It
is not a low-income or projects problem. It is known as a suburban area, ma
and pa selling, cheap manufacturing drug. It cost around $100 to manufacture
with a production profit around $6,000. An important issue with meth is that
it is more addictive than crack, heroine, cocaine, or any known controlled
substance.

I raise the question to you: Why are so many dealers being arrested for
manufacturing and distribution of crystal meth but never serve any time in
jail?

This is where our wonderful politicians come into play. A fact that is known
but very often covered up is that as long as you give up a meth dealer the
police want, you cut yourself lose from ever being prosecuted.

What this tells us is that as long as you rat out someone you will be
allowed to roam free and produce more meth as long as you share some of the
profits with those who helped you avoid prosecution.

There needs to be an investigation into the many arrests where meth dealers
have been exonerated of all charges, when the suspected manufacturer was
caught red-handed with a lab set up and all the chemicals to make meth but
they seem to be out roaming the streets while only a minute few are
incarcerated in jails and prisons serving time for himself plus everyone
else.

In our society, it is felt that the drug problems cause the corruption that
leads to violence. In my opinion our local politicians is where the
corruption lies.

We as a community could clean up the streets if we could clean up our
parishes. By this I mean to clean out the offices of our corrupt elected
officials. The next time you may want to look at the ballot twice before
pulling the lever.

Melissa Wainwright, Albany