Dear Editor,

Hello again from St. Marys Correctional Center.

A plague of heroin is upon us. Another plague. Heroin was the crisis that prompted Richard Nixon to launch the war on drugs in 1971.

Time marched on. Cocaine and then crack cocaine, and then methamphetamine overtook heroin as the drug of the moment. Now heroin is back and worse than ever.

The war on drugs also grinds on – an estimated one trillion dollars down the hole so far. Amid the triumphant announcements of massive drug seizures and arrests of the kingpins, heroin has never been more abundant or so easy to find, in urban and rural America alike.

Still, marijuana accounts for almost half of the drug arrests, and most of these are for possession, not selling.

A retired Cincinnati Police Captain states if he had to write a prescription for the heroin problem, the first thing he would do is legalize marijuana.

He said he would like to see Colorado and other states now taxing marijuana to earmark the money for drug treatment and rehabilitation. It’s crazy that only 10 percent of heroin addicts get into treatment, according to federal statistics.

Why the heroin epidemic now? Much of the surge in heroin use stems from the recent crackdown on prescribed painkillers. That and the weak-minded individuals who think they’re going to be cool and follow a person who is already addicted to heroin.

Legalize marijuana? Me personally, I believe marijuana is a gateway drug, that being, getting high on marijuana would or could eventually lead to experimenting with other drugs. My personal opinion!

But to legalize it and use the tax proceeds to combat heroin? Could happen, might work!

Another personal opinion of mine, Chase your dreams, not drugs!

Sincerely,

Warren Wade #31735

St. Marys Correctional Center