A PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM

When are policy-makers going to acknowledge the dangerous levels of
institutional corruption engendered by the drug war?

Recent articles about Westmoreland County prison guards suspected of
helping a convicted drug gang boss continue to run his operation while
awaiting trial on a murder charge are just the latest example.

This insidious corruption stretches from coast to coast and reaches
the highest levels. The former commander of U.S. anti-drug operations
in Colombia pleaded guilty to concealing knowledge that his wife was
laundering drug money in a heroin-smuggling operation.

Entire countries have been destabilized due to the corrupting
influence of organized crime groups that profit from the illegal drug
trade.

Drug laws fuel organized crime and corruption, which is then used to
justify increased drug war spending. It's time to end this madness and
start treating all substance abuse -- legal or otherwise -- as the
public health problem it is.

ROBERT SHARPE

Program Officer

The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation

Washington, D.C.