SECURITY PORT'S DECISION

In regard to your editorial ``New State Security Law is Heavy Burden for
Ports'' (Our Opinion, Aug. 3):

I agree with your point that more than 60 percent of the cocaine seized in
the United States is seized at Florida ports, a reflection of the volume -
150 to 200 metric tons of cocaine - annually targeted at Florida.

According to the 2000 Florida Seaport Study, the Port of Tampa is
particularly vulnerable to drug smuggling, given its long-term lack of
access control, absence of law enforcement personnel, understaffing by U.S.
Customs and dearth of nonintrusive inspection technologies.

The 2001 Seaport Bill passed by the Legislature directed that these
failings be addressed, appealing directly to port leadership to prioritize
their attention to security concerns. Indeed, the Seaport Study itself
explicitly stated that leadership was the single most important element in
making the ports more secure.

Port leadership was, accordingly, given the responsibility to plan how
minimum standards could be implemented. How much to invest in an entrance
checkpoint ($6 million seems pricey to me), therefore, is a port decision,
not a directive of law.

By the Florida Ports Council estimate, more than $300 million of state
moneys is to be invested under its five-year plan (published in 1999) to
meet improvements and upgrades at the ports. The additional moneys for
better security are but a fraction of that.

In the end, how the port leadership commits itself to running safer, more
crime-free ports will be the critical factor in determining port security.
Florida's drug control policy, in the meantime, will continue to stress
prevention and treatment but believes that law enforcement and cutting the
supply of drugs are also important factors in lowering drug abuse.

The writer is director of the Florida Office of Drug Control.