In the Saturday, Feb. 16, Albert Lea Tribune, a headline got my attention: “Probation for Calif. woman caught with 4 pounds of meth.” I don’t know much about the Freeborn County District Court, but this sentence seems totally ridiculous to me.

This woman was caught with 4 pounds of meth. There are 1,816 grams in 4 pounds of meth. That is a lot of meth.

Meth is illegal. It is highly addictive. Some of the negative consequences of meth include extreme weight loss, severe dental problems, anxiety, confusion, violent behavior, paranoia, hallucinations and brain damage. Overdoses can lead to stroke, heart attack and kidney failure. These conditions can result in death.

This woman was caught with 1,816 grams of meth. That is enough meth to mess up a lot of people’s lives and maybe kill some people. She did not get one day in jail for this crime. She only got placed on probation. That is outrageous.

It must be very frustrating for our law enforcement people to arrest someone with all these illegal drugs and find out they only got put on probation. What kind of terrible message is our Freeborn County District Court trying to send to drug dealers?  Don’t worry, if you get caught with a large amount of drugs in Freeborn County, you will only be put on probation.

John Wojszynski

Albert Lea