In 1969, my family migrated to Maine from Methuen, Mass., because Maine was “The Way Life Should Be.”

Methuen, Lawrence and Lowell are now drug capitals of New England. They declined into decay because drugs cannibalized the hearts and roots of the community. Society and the city became hostage to all kinds of criminal activity needed to support drug habits. Dependence on social services increased and the business and residential climate destroyed.

L/A is duplicating their errors. The motto: “L/A, It’s Happening Here,” best describes the drug business in L/A and rural towns.

I encourage readers to follow your writers’ coverage of crimes, court arraignments and judgment logs. You’ll be enlightened in the weakness of the judicial system.

The police departments spend exhausting hours capturing and accumulating evidence. They place their lives in danger, time away from family and are rewarded with a system that releases perpetrators with decreased jail time and easy attainable reduced fines.

This policy beckons dealers from New York and Massachusetts. Come to L/A! It’s Happening Here! We’re virgin territory and the judicial system is friendly!

The justice system needs to be reined in, and jails and prisons expanded along with treatment centers. If unheeded, L/A will become a tarnished skeleton and not the enticing community proclaimed.

Frances J. McCormick, Mechanic Falls