To the editor:

“Highway Patrol check greets fans,” “Traffic moves at a snail’s pace,” “Festival in full gear” – these are in the headlines this past week in the Journal-World.

The check lanes and patrol of extra officers was funded by a federal high-intensity drug-trafficking area grant. Agencies involved included Douglas County. There are a couple of things that stand out.

¢ This is not free money! It’s the taxpayers’ money. It could best be spent dealing with the “normal” crime that occurs in the county and city of Lawrence and fund the cost to investigate these crimes and punish the criminals and not the victims of these crimes by letting them off.

¢ The festival attendees bring revenue into Lawrence and surrounding areas. I’m not for the drugs that go with it, but it’s like trying to invent Prohibition. The Lawrence merchants are happy to have their patronage. You don’t bite the hand that feeds you.

Look at the wasted law enforcement hours, the inconvenience to local residents, the wasted gasoline, to put out the “welcome mat” by setting up a three-day check lane because we have a federal grant. That’s myopia at its best!

Eugene Reding,

Lawrence