DRUG WAR: NO EASY ANSWERS

Q-C Area Plice Officals Say Demand Is Strong, Supply Plentiful

Rock Island police Sgt. Mike Sponsler can't spend much time thinking about
whether police are winning the war on drugs. He has too much work to do.

The "war on drugs" is a trite phrase used to describe the effort to end
illegal drug sales, and one Davenport police Chief Mike Bladel
dislikes. He says it is too militaristic and misses the broad scoial
issues of the problem.

Even so, the drug war resembles many medieval conflicts in longevity, with
neither truce nor total victory imminent.

"It is just kind of a never-ending, because we are inundated with so many
cases," Sgt. Sponsler said.

His three-officer unit seized $71,240 worth of crack cocaine, cocaine,
marijuana, and methamphetamine in 2000. But the street retail prices of the
confiscated drugs, except for methamphetamines, a recent addition to the
local market, are the same as they were 10 years ago.

That observation shows the major failing of the war on drugs. The combined
resources of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies are many,
but have not stemmed the flow of narcotics into the Quad-Cities or the demand.

"The supply is still there," said Jim Urquiza, acting director of the Quad
City Metropolitan Enforcement Group (MEG). "I think it may change a little
bit here and there when we do a big bust, but, as far as overall change,
(the price of drugs) hasn't, because the supply is still there."

With demand strong and supply plentiful, prices remain stable and
affordable, fueling more demand. Competition amoung dealers also keeps
prices low.

"It sounds like we are talking about commodities, and we are," Sgt.
Sponsler said of the econimics of drug dealing.

Eugene Stockton, Henry County public defender, said one of the problems is
with the tactics of the war itself.

"Very seldom do you catch the guys who are the problem. They're very
powerful, have tons of money, and sophistication to avoid law
enforcement," he said. "Right now, the war is focused on people
transporting and possessing."

Fear of what could happen if the drug laws weren't aggressively enforced
keeps local law enforcement officials pressing the fight.

"It is difficult to establish a baseline on where you would be without the
police enforcing drug laws," Chief Bladel said. "How would a law
enforcement offical say this is an acceptable level of illicit activity?"

While there hasn't been a conclusive victory, officals say they've won some
battles and have had success meeting shorterm goals.

They point to drug seizures, like the 14,000 pounds of marijuana seized in
Will County last week, stiffer state and federal penalties for drug crimes,
and a local effort to reduce drug violence and stop open drug trafficking
on the streets.

They are viewed as an interlocking series of short-term goals that help
police inch closer to the end result.

"We're like the little Dutch boy in our sector of the dike, we do our
part," Rock Island County State's Attorney Marshall Douglas said.
"(Completely eliminating drugs) is not something that is immediately
achievable."

But the war on drugs is broad in scope and includes complex issues ranging
from sentencing guidelines to police policies to treatment theories to
families. Few solutions are found in the ever-changing world of illegal
drugs, concede police, prosecutors and politicians.

"There are no easy answers," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-ILL., during a recent
Quad-Cities visit. "We are not making the progress the American people
expect."

The legislature has joined the fight. Illinois now has more laws regarding
drug-related offenses than at any time in history.

"Are these efforts controlling the illegal use of drugs?" asked Don Hays,
senior staff counsel for the Illinois Appellate Prosecutor's Office in
Springfield. "I would say probably not. If you look at the massive
increase in drugs being used, I don't see any reduction in the trafficing.

"But then you ask yourself: what do you do in the alternative? You could
easily wipe out every crime by legalizing it. That would certainly lower
the crime rate, but if you do that, you defeat the basic purpose if you
believe the illegal drug trade is bad for society."

Henry County State's Attorney Terrance Patton said there is no magic-bullet
cure to the war on drugs in America. He said many social and economic
reasons for drug use have to be addressed in addition to aggressive
prosecution, explaining that close to half the criminal cases in Henry
County are drug-related.

"It's a war you will probably never win 100 percent, but you can't afford
not to fight it," Mr. Patton said. "As long as you have poor people
without jobs and without a strong family to instill what's right and what's
wrong, you're going to have drug dealers going for the easy money."