TWO SETS OF RULES

I am troubled by the latest article that details drug enforcement agencies'
new policies toward suburban drug users ["City targets heroin buyers coming
from the suburbs," June 13]. Last year, these agencies would send a letter
to the parents of suburban teens who were seen buying drugs in Chicago. The
letter simply informed parents that their car was seen in a high-drug area
of Chicago.

In contrast, Chicago teens were arrested and sent to juvenile detention
centers or prison. This unfair policy exists despite the fact that, as
chief of narcotics for the state's attorney's office William O'Brien
describes, "We have a huge problem with heroin on the West Side, and the
bulk of those people are suburbanites."

Under the new policy, suburban teens may have their cars impounded and
their licenses suspended. O'Brien claims, "Taking away their driving
privileges may resonate more with them than the threat of jail."

Is this a joke? First of all, why do the wealthier and predominantly white
middle class suburban drug addicts receive such treatment? Second, why are
the lower-income and working-class minority and white drug users from
Chicago thrown in jail at alarming rates for the same crimes?

I find it hard to believe that drug enforcement officials really believe
that suspended licenses will better deter suburban youth from buying drugs.
I'm sure that receiving the five-year sentences that urban kids receive for
buying drugs will cause many suburban drug users to reconsider the nature
of their relationship with illegal narcotics. Their experiences in prison
would further deter them.

At minimum, drug enforcement agencies should give Chicago's youth the same
optimistic opportunities to not be caught up in the tidal wave of drug
incarceration policy. In essence, I wonder why the consequence for urban
drug users is a lengthy stay at a Downstate prison, while the consequence
for suburban drug users is a lengthy stay at a Downstate university (but
with a suspended driver's license).

Dennis Anthony Kass,

Albany Park