THE OTHER WAR: WHILE LAW ENFORCEMENT FOCUSED ON DRUGS, AMERICANS BECAME
TERRORISTS' VICTIMS

The reactions to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 have been many and
varied. There was the understandable horror and shock of a nation taken
completely by surprise. There was the typically American outpouring of
generosity and sympathy. New York was inundated with money, blood and
volunteers.

The United States military has its response underway, and you can be sure
the task is difficult. For the last eight years, our military's main
function has been to distract the public's attention away from the excesses
of a monumentally self-absorbed and hypocritical Commander-In-Chief.

I have little doubt that our military will rise to the occasion, however,
and deliver to the murderers exactly what they deserve. It won't be as
one-sided a battle as the American public has gotten used to, but the
outcome is a foregone conclusion.

On the domestic front, on the other hand, I am not so optimistic. Attorney
General John Ashcroft, with President Bush's backing, has been lobbying
Congress for a wish list of new powers that should chill the marrow of
anyone who treasures liberty.

This is despite the fact that the FBI already has been granted sweeping
anti-terrorist powers in 1996 in the aftermath of Oklahoma City, and more
in 1998 after the embassy bombings in Africa. According to some published
reports, information gathered by the FBI was either disregarded or was not
disseminated to local law enforcement or airline security personnel.

Most disturbingly, Ashcroft has continually referred to the War on Drugs as
his model. You remember the war on drugs, don't you? That's the war that
has locked up tens of thousands of Americans for the sin of possessing
chemical substances that the government disapproves of, even if they have
never harmed another soul.

It's the war that has confiscated millions and millions of dollars worth of
private property without a benefit of a trial, conviction and sometimes
without even a single charge being levied against the property's former owner.

The war on drugs has created paramilitary police units in black uniforms,
often masked to hide their identity. These units are employed on raids into
neighborhoods across the country, often brandishing warrants based solely
on evidence provided by paid informants.

Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, innocent people are killed in these
raids. The police then issue a statement of regret, noting that mistakes
happen in war, and it will all be worth it if just one less teenager fires
up a joint at the next rock concert.

It's the war on drugs that has made ruthless street gangs fabulously
wealthy and emboldened them to gun down the competition.

It's the war on drugs that has turned bank tellers, post office clerks,
Amtrak employees, schoolchildren and teachers into a network of snitches,
compelled by law or peer pressure to spy upon those around them and report
unapproved behavior.

It's the war on drugs that shot down a plane carrying innocent missionaries
in South America and prompted a response from the authorities that amounted
to a shrug of the shoulders and a muttered, "Oops."

Because of the war on drugs, terminally ill patients are denied effective
pain relief, and cancer victims can't use the proven benefits of marijuana
to alleviate the side effects of chemotherapy.

The war on drugs has steadily increased the alienation of the police from
more and more of the communities they serve. It has consumed tax money at a
voracious rate and has diverted law enforcement resources at an alarming pace.

What the drug war has not done, however, is stop a single American from
snorting, inhaling, smoking, injecting or swallowing whatever substance he
or she desires. And no amount of increase in laws, incarcerations, money or
manpower will change that fact.

So, Mr. Ashcroft and Mr. Bush, I've got a better idea. Before you ask for
sweeping new police powers to combat terrorism, why not end the war on drugs?

Some $18.1 billion in federal money alone would become immediately
available for use in the real war, the one against terrorists. Since this
money has already been plundered from the citizens of the United States, no
tax increase would be necessary.

Best of all, tens of thousands of law enforcement personnel on the federal,
state and local levels could then be reassigned from the pointless and
destructive drug war. Instead, they could start looking for terrorists and
investigating actual crimes.

Yes, I know this would mean that no one would be monitoring dangerous
activity, like the sale of grow lights and roach clips. On the other hand,
while thousands of cops were busy in entirely futile attempts to keep John
Q. Public from smoking a doobie, terrorists murdered thousands of innocent
civilians on American soil.

Just what will it take to change law-enforcement priorities in this country?

Scott Davison's column appears on this space on Saturdays.