WAR ON ILLEGAL DRUGS SHOULD BE ESCALATED

In his Jan. 11 opinion, "DRUG WAR'S CAUSALITIES OUTNUMBER IT'S VICTORIES."
David Klinger of the pro-legalization Cato Institute castigated the war on
drugs.

The view was seriously deficient in reality and simply reverberated the din
of the pro-pot lobby.

Klinger wrote that he had never seen anyone "overdose on marijuana or
influence anyone to do anything more violent that attack a bag of potato
chips." He's probably never seen anyone die of tobacco either, buy surely
he would not claim tobacco is harmless and marijuana has far more
carcinogens than tobacco, not to mention a host of other deleterious
consequences that are particularly hazardous for children.

Those who use drugs commit crimes while under the influence, and the
devastation to the rest of the family is well documented. Drug use
escalates when the supply is readily available and the consequences are
either weak or nonexistent. Any policy that reduces consequences for the
use or makes drugs more readily available in any way can only lead to more
tragedy for society.

As for Klinger's claim that he has never seen anyone do violence under the
influence of pot, perhaps he is recalling the marijuana of the 1960's and
'70's, which for the most part was nothing more than wild hemp, also known
as ditch weed. Ditch weed, though low in THC, the psychoactive ingredient
in marijuana, was strong enough to get a smoker sufficiently high.

The marijuana today is extremely potent, can be life threatening if
ingested and is a leading cause of drug-related emergency room episodes
throughout the nation. Society has found it abhorrent that the tobacco
industry deliberately targeted children, yet today proponents of
legalization actively promote drugs and a drug-using lifestyle to our
children via the Internet directly into their classrooms and into their
homes. Tobacco and alcohol have never been legal for children, but because
these substances are legal for adults, they are readily available and are
easily accessed by children. Legalizing drugs for adults would simply move
the illicit market to the purview of younger and younger children, and drug
trafficking and dealing would continue to flourish.

Time Served Can Heal, Too

As for the thousands whom Klinger asserts are locked in prison for minor
possession (primarily another hallucination of the pro-pot lobby), there
are hundreds of thousands of parents who would far rather have had their
children incarcerated than to have them lose their lives to illicit
drugs. Even former President Clinton stated that his brother would be dead
today if he had not been imprisoned and forced into treatment.

The film "Traffic" shows how futile treatment is. While it is only humane
to provide treatment to addicts, one does not win a war by treating the
wounded.

There is not one affection of society that is not created or worsened by
the use of psychoactive and addictive substances. The scourge of drugs
should be likened to the Bubonic Plague and treated accordingly. This
plague was not eradicated by tending to the sick and dying. It was
eradicated by killing the rats that carried the deadly fleas.

What needs to be done globally to turn the tide on drug use does not take
rocket science. It takes common sense.

Society needs to view drug use as offensive, destructive and disguising
behavior; to apply meaningful consequences to users, since most users
coerce others into joining in this folly; and especially apply significant,
unpleasant consequences to those who promote the use of illicit and
addictive substances.

If we aren't in a war on drugs, we certainly should be. The United States
will spend $17.5 billion this year trying to contain a scourge that is
costing the nation nearly $300 billion a year, not to mention the hundreds
of thousands of lost and decimated lives.

In the interest of the welfare of our country and good economic sense, it
is time to double or even triple our effort in the war on drugs and quit
letting legalizer propaganda undermine prevention efforts.