Pubdate: Sun, 21 Mar 1999
Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL)
Copyright: 1999 St. Petersburg Times.
Contact:  http://www.sptimes.com/
Forum: http://www.sptimes.com/Interact.html
Author: Anne Beggs

WAR AGAINST DRUGS IS A WASTE OF MONEY

Editor: I would like to express my appreciation to the Citrus Times for
carrying Jan Glidewell as a columnist. I realize he might be slightly
off-beat for some readers, but I am a fan.

I especially agreed with his column about the "war" on drugs as a waste of
time and effort. The average citizen is paying dearly for this so-called
righteous program of penalizing the little guys. Our prison systems are
forever bulging, necessitating more and more housing at a phenomenal cost.
The big-time drug bosses are seldom caught. Even some of our very own
"protectors" in the field have been known to be on the take.

I do not endorse these drugs, but if the Big Money were eliminated, crime
would be conspicuously reduced. Even some conservatives such as William
Buckley endorse this thinking. As for the youths, there will still be some
offenders, but there won't be as much mayhem committed in order to
occasionally indulge. Money is the root of a lot of evil. Let's be
realistic. Money spent on prisons should be spent on education.

Anne Beggs
Inverness

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