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Letter: Drug-dependent people respond better to compassion than punishment

Kathy Morris, former coordinator of the Davis County drug court, and Chris Allred, Weber County attorney, appear to want to punish people who use drugs and who have been arrested for drug-related crimes.

It might behoove them and the general public to read “Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs,” and to watch Michael Moore’s movie, “Where to Invade Next.” What author Johann Hari discovered is that drug-dependent people respond more positively to understanding, compassion and emotional connectedness than they do to punishment. And they are punished in a variety of ways.