KEEP CLAWSON, STOP DRUG WAR

[Roger] Clawson's article on Nichole's bad choices [Outpost, March 29]
should not go unrewarded or unnoticed. His narrative of her life so
far was marvelously empathic, sensitive and, above all, medically
accurate. Congratulations, Roger!

But I do want to point out another aspect that the article dwelt on
briefly - that of our nation's great psychosis - the Drug War or, more
accurately, Drug Prohibition. Being incarcerated instead of being
diagnosed and treated means that her possibilities of a successful
life become ever more remote.

And all of this with the backdrop of the fact that marijuana is
currently the nation's biggest cash crop! It is worth more than all
the corn and wheat sold in our country. In California alone, the worth
of an annual crop is $13 BILLION!

The sooner we tax and regulate all drugs the same as we do alcohol and
tobacco, the sooner we will be able to spend more for diagnosis,
prevention and treatment.

Edwin L. Stickney M.D.

Billings