HIGH ON HEMP

I agreed with Debby Moore's commentary, "Kansas missing out on the
potential of hemp" (July 13 opinion pages). Our country needs to
reintroduce hemp as a component of American agriculture. I have been buying
imported Canadian hemp-seed oil for more than three years and would rather
buy it from American farmers. It's time to rein in the U.S. government,
which is out of control in prohibiting American farmers from growing and
producing this vegetable oil.

STAN WHITE Dillon, Colo.

Failed Drug War

Regarding The Eagle editorial "Treatment: Change emphasis of state's drug
policy" (June 30 Our View): The Kansas Sentencing Commission is to be
commended for pursuing alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent drug
offenders. A study conducted by the Rand Corp. found that every additional
dollar invested in substance-abuse treatment saves taxpayers $7.46 in
societal costs.

There is far more at stake than tax dollars. The drug war is not the
promoter of family values that some would have us believe. Children of
inmates are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and
delinquency. Not only do the children lose out, but society as a whole
does, too. Incarcerating nonviolent drug offenders alongside hardened
criminals is the equivalent of providing them with a taxpayer-funded
education in anti-social behavior. Turning drug users into unemployable
ex-cons is a senseless waste of tax dollars.

It's time to declare peace in the failed drug war and begin treating all
substance abuse, legal or otherwise, as the public-health problem it is.
Destroying the futures and families of citizens who make unhealthy choices
doesn't benefit anyone.

ROBERT SHARPE

Program officer

Drug Policy Alliance

Washington, D.C.