Pubdate: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 Source: Star-Gazette (NY) Copyright: 2008sStar-Gazette Contact: http://www.stargazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1005 Author: Rod Havens DRUG PROBLEMS HAVEN'T BEEN ADDRESSED CORRECTLY In the last few weeks, the Star-Gazette has published many articles concerning drugs. Columnist Jim Pfiffer tells us about the easily available prescription drugs in our schools and on the street. Peter Christ, a retired police captain that is a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, tells us our ongoing drug policies obviously don't work and never will. Another article shows that 2.3 million of our citizens locked up. That's more than Russia or China. That equates to one person out of 100 is in jail. We spend more than $49 billion a year on corrections, up from $11 billion 20 years ago. We spend six times more on corrections than for higher education. These ridiculous policies are bankrupting us and have absolutely no effect on availability, crime or recidivism. I have two conclusions. One, since our society and government can't deal with reality, why should we expect our citizens to? And two, after digesting all the information, statistics and our embarrassing inability to address these problems, I decided I need drugs. Rod Havens, Odessa - --- MAP posted-by: Derek