GANGS AND DRUGS

L.A. Parker sounds like a politician in his column, "City men hit
death lottery." He proposes to deal with the problem of gang violence
by concentrating on elementary school children.

That's a politician's feel-good proposal whose results wouldn'tbe
known for 10 years or more. It does nothing to address the problem of
gang violence now.

Guess what? It won't work in 10 years, either. Actions against gangs
speak louder than any indoctrinating words to children.

It is our actions that are pushing minority youths into gangs. We
keep pumping money and resources into the War on Drugs, which
disproportionately victimizes city minorities and provides an endless
supply of new gang recruits. The government -- federal, state, county
and municipal -- is waging a war, not on drugs, but on its own
citizens. And you're shocked that there's violence involved?! What
did you expect from war?

The problem of gang violence can be solved quite simply: tax and
regulate currently illegal drugs, as we now do with cigarettes and
alcohol. Establish stores, check ID's, and forbid sales to minors.
Provide treatment on demand. The profits will disappear from the
illegal drug trade along with the gangs and the violence.

The War on Drugs is an unwinnable war on our own citizens that only
breeds ever-escalating violence. Have we learned nothing from Prohibition?

Kenneth R. Wolski

Trenton