TAX DOLLARS ARE BEING WASTED ON MARIJUANA ARRESTS

Thank you for printing the article regarding the travesty that happened in
Tulia, Texas ("Texas town has a one-man travesty of law enforcement," Aug.
30). This kind of mentality has to stop.

I don't believe in the abuse of any drugs, legal or illegal.

But the abuse of Americans' civil rights is a far worse crime. Just the
fact that some of these people received up to 90 years is absurd. I for one
am not happy about paying an average of $30,000 a year of my tax dollars
for someone convicted of drug abuse and/or use. There are just way too many
of them, especially when violent criminals get out on parole just to commit
another violent crime.

Last year, 800,000 were arrested nationwide just for marijuana. A lot of
them were legal state medical patients. This is a great waste of our tax
dollars and law enforcement.

Meril Draper,

Brinnon