Pubdate: Fri, 7 Aug 2009
Source: Oroville Mercury-Register (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Oroville Mercury Register
Contact:  http://www.orovillemr.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2277
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n763/a04.html
Author: Garry Cooper

ENFORCEMENT DOESN'T CURTAIL DRUG USE

Ex-Police Chief John Bullerjahn's letter on Sunday, stating that he
had never met a "dope addict who did not start out his habit with the
gateway drug pot," demonstrates his complete lack of understanding of
both drug users and the "Boogie man, reefer madness" approach to
addressing our drug use problem.

The drugs are out there more than ever before regardless of the
billions of dollars spent in law enforcement to end it, and they
always will be. Broken homes, teen mental pressures and issues, and
lack of after-school sports and programs are behind drug use. We have
annihilated our budgets to aid in helping with these issues so as to
add to our police and prison budgets and are now doing it again in
this economic downturn.

Thanks to the police/prison guard unions, whose major goals are to
expand incarceration even though we already lock more people up per
capita that any country in the world, another generation is being
flushed down the toilet.

We need prevention and treatment. We need to refocus our scarce
resources to keep our kids involved in healthy activities. The drugs
are and will be there no matter what people like Bullerjahn think or
dream.

We all want and need our police, but we want them focused on violent
crimes and protecting our homes, not robbing resources from truly
helpful programs to fund enforcement programs that have done
absolutely zero in curtailing drug use.

Garry Cooper, Durham
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake