Rethinking our policy on drugs

Re “This is the U.S. on drugs,” Opinion, July 5

I wholeheartedly agree with David W. Fleming and James P. Gray’s article on the failure of the war on drugs and the need for a realistic rethinking.

However, in a society that increasingly prefers the narrow-mindedness of religion to the smile of reason, with weak-kneed politicians and middle-class parents terrified that their children will become drug addicts, I don’t expect to see the changes they advocate in my lifetime.

Peter Marx

Glendale

I applaud this analysis of the current approach to illegal drug use. The strategy has many unintended and harmful effects that follow from a misguided attempt to legislate the problem away. In my many years of psychiatric practice, I have never seen a patient whose drug abuse was positively influenced by some drugs being illegal. In general, people conduct themselves as if the laws do not exist.

If the electorate begins to understand how much our personal security is undermined by the current wrongheaded approach, we may see a better system in the future.

Eric Foxman, MD

West Hills

So Fleming and Gray believe that legalizing drugs will solve our drug problems and save us millions of dollars.

I always thought the main purpose of drug laws was to prevent the devastating effect of these illegal substances on people. Makes one wonder if the authors were not under the influence themselves.

Catalino T. Ribac

Encino