Letterbox - Decriminalization

To the editor:

I recently watched both the original “The Lion In Winter” starring Peter O’Toole and Katharine Hepburn (best) and the remake starring Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close, and in both, freedom was very important. To the Queen.

A friend recently visited her heroin-addicted son incarcerated in our jail, so it was with great interest that I read your front page article “Pursuing Personal and Environmental Rehabilitation in Whatcom County” by Evan Knappenberger. After speaking with her, neither his security nor health care are taken care of and freedom is a distant consideration. Sorry Nancy, but we should admit that we lost the war on drugs long ago and decriminalize all drugs (think of the revenue, the decline in crime, and how many prisons could be closed!).

Anyway, more than the maids and clubs of my “privileged” childhood, I value the freedom to do as I please when I feel like it and think protecting this right should be the prime function of our government; as I’ve written before, I think slavery is now, has always been, and always will be wrong (note that I’m not in denial about its existence).

Knappenberger’s portrayal of the inmates working with the WCSO (Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office) reminded me of watching Ken Burns’ wonderful show on our National Parks being built by mainly white men and how different this would be today.

Anyway, what I’d like to know is who’s going to pay for all this wonderful stuff described by Evan Knappenberger, especially during our fiscal crisis.