Drug Prohibition

THE POOR SUFFER THE MOST

Reading Tonyaa Weathersbee's columns during my winter stays in your
area, I have become a fan of hers.

I don't always agree with her, but I admire her for following her
instincts and reporting it as she sees it, even though it may be
counter to prevailing opinion.

Her Feb. 5 column ("More effort is needed to lift up poor
communities") is no exception. Indeed, it was especially courageous,
considering how close to blasphemy any questioning of the "war on
drugs" has become.

Before retiring, I had a long career as a pharmacist. I watched with
dismay while the anti-drug juggernaut grew. And knowing, as I do, how
much of the effort is stimulated by distortion and exaggeration has
made the cost in resources and destroyed lives seem even more repugnant.

I'm almost brought to tears when I consider that the money spent on
this "war" is enough to provide rehabilitation for all who need it,
with enough left over to fund nationwide health care.

I think that Weathersbee's premise that the poor suffer from this
"jihad" disproportionately is correct. I think that it took only 13
years to correct the error and repeal alcohol prohibition (even
though it required, literally, an act of Congress, as well as
three/fourths of the states' legislatures) because the disastrous
effects permeated all levels of society.

Today's drug prohibition, however, because it damages mostly the poor
and powerless, has been allowed to fester.

MICHAEL BERRY

North Kingstown, R.I.