Money better spent

Re: “Petty drug users should not be pariahs”, (Opinion, March 17).

Fashion model Yuyee lost her court battle and will spend the next 15 years in prison because she was caught smuggling 251 milligrammes, (one fourth of a gramme), of cocaine into the country. She will spend her time with thousands of others in cramped prison conditions.

What is cramped? In Chiang Rai, 90 women share one room of about 50 square metres. It is so crowded that they have to rotate sleeping hours.

Is this cruel punishment under law? Imagine being trapped on a crowded BTS car for 15 years instead of 15 minutes. And we taxpayers are paying the prison to house and feed her. Have a heart.

Rather than jailing people for possessing drugs, the law should be revised to impose a fee on minor drug offences. The collected fees can help the government pay for drug abuse counselling. Yuyee never hurt me.

VINCENT GILLES