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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>EXCELLENT letter Karen !<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Short, sweet, and right to the heart of the matter.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>David J.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> Peace-discuss [mailto:peace-discuss-bounces@lists.chambana.net] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Karen Aram via Peace-discuss<br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, March 21, 2017 11:48 AM<br><b>To:</b> Peace-discuss List; Peace Discuss<br><b>Subject:</b> [Peace-discuss] They printed my letter to the NG<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><div id=page><div id=main><div id=content><div id=breadcrumb><div style='margin-bottom:15.0pt;box-sizing: border-box;border-radius: 4px'><p class=MsoNormal style='background:whitesmoke'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#333333'><a href="http://www.news-gazette.com/"><span style='color:#13294B;text-decoration:none'>Home</span></a> » <a href="http://www.news-gazette.com/opinion"><span style='color:#13294B;text-decoration:none'>Opinion</span></a> » <a href="http://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/letters-editor"><span style='color:#13294B;text-decoration:none'>Letters to the Editor</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div style='mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-top:solid #222222 6.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><h1 style='mso-margin-top-alt:11.25pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;border:none;padding:0in;box-sizing: border-box;color:inherit' id=page-title><span style='font-size:26.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333'>Close the prisons, treat the addicted<o:p></o:p></span></h1></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div id=content-content><div><div id=node-1519305><p class=MsoNormal><span class=submitted><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333'>Fri, 03/17/2017 - 7:00am | <a href="http://www.news-gazette.com/users/digitalmedia" title="View user profile."><span style='color:#13294B;text-decoration:none'>The News-Gazette</span></a></span></span><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#333333'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id=node-1519305><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.2in;line-height:18.0pt'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333'>Len Gingerich's recent letter suggesting the "undocumented" are crossing the borders of Arizona from Mexico to distribute illegal drugs to American communities is, as usual, targeting the "usual suspects," that being the poor and those unable to defend themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.2in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333'>Associating the "undocumented" with drug dealers and criminals is a form of cruelty, vilifying those we wish to dispose of.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.2in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333'>If we seriously wish to eradicate this country's drug problems, we need to target those responsible for the distribution and their corporate masters. We need to end the drug wars and treat drug addiction as the health issue that it is, as was done successfully in Portugal.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.2in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333'>We need to stop the incarcerations and close down many, if not most, of the prisons across the nation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.2in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333'>U.S. government involvement in the drug trade is well known as stated in the April 2016 Harper's article "Legalize It All" by Dan Baum, "White Out," in Counterpunch by Jeffrey St. Clair and Alfred McCoy's "The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia," 1974.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='box-sizing: border-box'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#333333'>And, of course, there's the Iran-Contra affair; see page 41 of the December 1988 Kerry Committee report to the U.S. Senate. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.2in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333'>KAREN ARAM<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.2in;line-height:18.0pt;box-sizing: border-box'><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#333333'>Urbana<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>