Wall won’t solve drug problem

To the Editor;
For what reason do we want to assemble a wall along the southern border of the United States? Loss of jobs? Currently, an average of 95 percent of Americans in the labor force are working. Illegal drugs? Trafficking? Violence?

Obviously, if we build a wall, criminals are clever enough to find other means to transport their wares via air, our northern border and sea (Maine alone has 3,400 miles of coastland). And keep in mind that criminals come not just from south of the border, but from countries all over the world.

Addicts, criminals and abusers have often grown up as victims themselves. Suggested funding for a wall might be better invested in programs that help us explore and educate ourselves in child development, parenting practices, self-responsibility, respectful relationships, community health, and cures for substance abuse and mental illness.

Every time we stop one drug lord or human trafficking gang, another is going to fill the void because, in America, there is a market for their goods. Putting the blame for our woes on other countries will not halt the bleeding of our pocketbooks and citizens and innocents worldwide who get caught in the cross-fire. Instead, we must acknowledge the real problem — us — and take it upon ourselves to amend it.

Tammera Fenn
Charleston