NEW DRUG POLICIES NEEDED

re: East Tampa Residents Seek Help In Drug War

To the editor:

If the residents of East Tampa really want to end the blight of
illegal drug dealing in their neighborhoods, why on earth do they
continue to seek help from the obviously failed strategies employed
by Tampa police?

The article tells us that dealers operate openly throughout the
neighborhoods, during day and night hours, yet the Tampa PD's
Operation QUAD makes less than one arrest per day (81 arrests
Feb-Apr)?

In addition, the officers pad these meager results by donning the hat
of the drug dealer and selling drugs to people who they then arrest,
which does nothing towards reducing the number of illegal sellers.
This is a ridiculously inefficient use of valuable police manpower.

It is urgent that we end the illegal black market in drugs. Changing
our policies to move marijuana and other illicit substances into a
regulated market will instantly remove the obscene profits enjoyed by
the back alley drug dealers and they will be out of business for
good. This is precisely how we dealt with the illegal distribution of
America's most dangerous drug(alcohol)when the Volstead Act was
repealed in 1932. It is the reason we do not see back alley alcohol
salesmen; why we do not see schoolkids selling booze on playgrounds;
and why we do not see drive by shootings and gang violence related to
alcohol sales.

None of us should feel afraid to walk the streets in our own
neighborhood. Ending 21st century Prohibition will make our streets
safer, and end the horrid waste of public tax dollars that do little
or nothing to address the very real problems of substance abuse in
our country.

Sincerely,

Stephen Heath
Clearwater