FORD FLIP-FLOPS ON DRUG TREATMENT ISSUE

Toledo Mayor Jack Ford speaks with forked tongue. In the May primary,
he favored the Lucas County Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services levy
that would have raised local property taxes, but has now joined with a
group called "Ohioans Against Unsafe Drug Policies," composed mostly
of politicians and led by Hope Taft, in opposing a November ballot
initiative that would provide drug treatment services for first- and
second-time nonviolent offenders without raising local property taxes.

It looks as though Mayor Ford believes in the effectiveness of drug
treatment, but only if it raises our property taxes, instead of
drawing money from the general fund. One has to wonder why Mr. Ford
would join with a group of desperate Republicans in an effort to
stifle real drug-law reform that would provide the most effective
means of dealing with drug crimes. Mr. Ford would prefer the status
quo of arresting and imprisoning thousands of Americans to reforms
that would benefit society.

Most Americans have come to realize that enforcement and incarceration
are not the answer to America's drug problem. Too bad Mr. Ford is not
among them.

How can Mr. Ford be for drug treatment and against it?

JIM WHITE,
Oregon