CASUALTY OF WAR ON DRUGS

IN 'MEDICAL EXAMINER finds single shot killed officer' (Hampton Roads,
Jan. 24), a neighbor of the suspect is quoted as saying 'It's a
tragedy; it's two lives wasted, and for what?'

After the death of Detective Jarrod Shivers in a Chesapeake drug raid,
it is a most appropriate question to be asked.

The 'narcotics' warrant has since been disclosed to be for
marijuana.

More than half of the adult population, including many law enforcement
officers, do not support the laws on a substance that is medically
much less dangerous than alcohol.

While Great Britain has adopted a 'confiscate and warn' policy, and
Colorado has reclassified growing a small number of marijuana plants
from a felony to a misdemeanor, our local police continue to enforce
the law in high-risk, military-type operations.

Several large cities such as San Francisco have adopted a policy that
relegates marijuana law enforcement to the lowest priority.

Yet here in Hampton Roads, we have two lives wasted as a result of the
paramilitary method with which the police deal with marijuana.

This is madness. By some accounts, the homeowner has been described as
a nonviolent person who may possibly have been acting in good faith to
defend himself. The courts will have to decide that.

Couldn't the police simply have met the homeowner [Ryan Frederick,
charged with first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the
commission of a felony] on the street or chosen a less risky means to
serve a warrant?

Detective Shivers is sadly yet another unnecessary casualty in the war
on drugs. I offer my condolences to the families of both Detective
Shivers and Ryan Frederick.

STEVEN D. WALLACE

Norfolk