The Right Answer to Drug Abuse
* Re “O.C. Teen Drug Arrests Soar; Treatment Lags” (Sept. 11):
Finally someone is paying attention to the teenage drug problem.
As a society, we should prefer treatment and prevention to incarceration. Jail and prison are not the answer to drug abuse.
My son did not have access to treatment programs as a teenager and is now serving a minimum 25 years to life under the three-strikes law as a non-violent offender. His third strike was for possession of $10 worth of cocaine. It can happen to your child.
Give treatment a chance; 80% of California prisoners are locked up because of drugs. Sending $1.3 billion to Colombia is not keeping people from using drugs. Building a new prison in Delano will not prevent drug use. We need to implement programs that build lives, not destroy them.
VIVIAN MOEN
Fountain Valley
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