Pubdate: Sun, 02 Jul 2006
Source: Galveston County Daily News (TX)
Copyright: 2006 Galveston Newspapers, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.galvnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/164
Author: Colleen Minter McCool
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

TOTALITARIAN TEXAS

In regard to Edwin Smith Jr. letter (The Daily News, June 27) stating,
"The message that is being sent to people is that honesty is not the
best policy" : This message is sent when we deny student aid if they
are honest and admit to a drug conviction and when our government
encourages parents to deny their former drug use to their children.

Our failure of a drug policy has turned Texas into a prison kingdom,
incarcerating around 1,000 poor souls out of every 100,000 of us, more
than any totalitarian regime in the whole world.

No legitimate business lasts long if it kills its customers or shoots
the competition.

No legitimate business would sell drugs to children or recruit them to
sell to their peers.

This happened during alcohol prohibition, and it is happening
today.

Once again, prohibition creates more danger to the user and society by
increasing violent crime and corruption of public officials.

The drug war obviously exacerbates, rather than reduces, racial
prejudice. The white incarceration rate nationwide was 393 per
100,000; Latino, 957; and black, 2,531.

The Controlled Substances Act is one of those bad laws like the
Fugitive Slave Act and the Volstead Act.

When juries refuse to convict on drug crime, drug warriors will be
politically dead bodies.

Jury nullification is a constitutional power tool we the people
pack.

COLLEEN MINTER MCCOOL

Stephenville