Drug Pushers Are Killers In A Very Real Sense

Putting a drug dealer like Richard “Butch” Forrest in prison longer than a murderer isn’t strange, contends Danette Tairo of Spokane.

Tairo says she knows both Forrest, who was sentenced to 24 years in prison last week for his ringleader role in a methamphetamine operation, and his sister, Monica.

“What about what they have done to their own children? What about what they have done to my child and maybe your child? Their activities were far-reaching,” says Tairo.

“Maybe we need to define murder a little more in depth,” she says.

“Drug addiction is a living death. I’ve watched it consume my child.

“Can the spirit and future of a child be killed?” Tairo asks. “Can a family die from being ripped to shreds emotionally? I say, ‘yes,’ emphatically to both questions.”

Tairo says people like Forrest and his sister don’t care about the deaths, mental derangement or other consequences of their activities.

“They didn’t even care enough about their own children to give them a decent home and honest, law-abiding parents to guide them through their growing and maturing years.”

Sadly, says Tairo, “someone else will pick up where they left off and carry on the ‘business.”’

For those people, she calls for sentencing guidelines that are tough and consistent.

“Our courts are handing down sentences that make no sense and take away from the value we have always placed on a life or lives,” says Tairo. “A message needs to be sent that we are sick of the devaluing of life, whether it be quick, outright murder or the slow poisoning of the drug addict.”

On the other hand, Jim Shamp of Cheney believes current drug laws fit a definition he once heard of insanity: “Doing the same thing and expecting different results.”

“Nothing has failed more than the policy of incarcerating people for drug crimes, yet we continue to demand more of the same. If Initiative 685 passes, this will begin to change, and we should start seeing better results.”

Involvement a better strategy than limits

“Campaign financing may never be effectively controlled by laws,” says Jon J. Tuning of Spokane, “possibly indicating prevention is not right.

“The influence of campaign spending can be reduced by people exercising their right to take part in political campaigns.”

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