Society has a choice

The Chronicle June 8 article, "Prisons modern day gushers for
Beaumont; Oil derricks replaced by new guard towers," managed to
find a silver lining in the most unlikely place. The fact that
America has the highest per capita incarceration rate of any
developed country is hardly cause for celebration. Rather, it is
time to reflect on how our misguided war on drugs has fed the
prison boom by misusing law enforcement to deal with what is
primarily a social and medical problem.

How many schools and afterschool activity centers could have
been built and staffed with this prison money? If we were to
invest more wisely, we would see a growing number of well
educated and welladjusted young people instead of a growing
number of convicts and exconvicts.

Which scenario bodes better for society in the long run?

Craig Schroer, Austin