A TRAGEDY OF THE DRUG WAR

I just finished serving as a juror in the brutal murder case of the
commonwealth vs. Asaki Howard, in which a verdict of murder in the first
degree was rendered ("Woman found guilty in death," Nov. 23).

It is an all-too-common-sounding case, where a hitherto-peaceful mother of
three needed money for the cocaine she craved and ended up murdering, or
participating in the murder of, her friendly next-door neighbor, a
76-year-old woman.

I cannot help but note that if not for our failed, draconian drug laws, the
crack cocaine Howard needed each day would've cost $2 rather than $200, a
habit that could easily be supported by delivering newspapers or flipping
hamburgers one day a week.

Howard never would've been led to contemplate robbery, and her personal
medical problem with substance abuse would not have escalated into a
tragedy engulfing us all.

Drug prohibition, like alcohol prohibition before it, leads inexorably to
violence on many fronts, making us all significantly less safe and
indirectly leaving all those who support such policies with blood on their
hands.

Harold Kyriazi

Schenley Heights