DRUG WAR SIDE EFFECTS INTOLERABLE

The government and police departments are not focused enough on violent crime. They are on a rampage against drugs.

The nation's war on drugs is taking valuable police officers off the street and putting them on special drug units. With all of their efforts, the war on drugs is not slowing drug use or supply in America. It is, however, allowing violent crime to enter society in higher levels than ever.

Because of the amount of nonviolent drug offenders taking up so much prison space, violent criminals are being released back into society, to commit more violent crimes. However hard it may be to admit, drugs always have and always will be a presence in American society. We Americans have been paying too high a price for the nation's war on drugs.

Tougher laws and sentences should be directed toward violent offenders. Help the criminal justice system get back to its initial duty of protecting society.

Sarah M. Starkey
Spokane