WAR ON DRUGS HAS BEEN A WHOPPER OF A FAILURE

America's futile effort to arrest its way out of our drug problems has
cost taxpayers more than $1 trillion since 1970, and it drains $69
billion a year -- every year -- from our treasury. It funds terrorists
and clogs the court system, yet our kids report that it can be easier
for them to buy illegal drugs than beer or cigarettes.

As a child growing up in Wichita, I learned to spot a failure when I
saw one. And this one's a whopper.

Our government pours billions of dollars into poisoning crops in other
counties, turning dirt-poor farmers into mortal enemies, and risking
our soldiers against highly armed, ruthless drug gangs. And what did
the CIA recently admit? After our latest $4 billion eradication effort
in Afghanistan, the heroin-producing poppy trade is the largest ever
recorded.

Another $4 billion wasted to eradicate coca plants in Colombia has
resulted in an increase in coca, and that trade has now been joined by
Colombian entrepreneurs who produce opium poppies.

What exactly are we getting for our trillion tax dollars? A good
feeling?

But you know who really feels good about our war on drugs? The drug
cartels. And the terrorists.

But just as happened to Al Capone and his smuggling buddies when
Prohibition ended, the drug lords and terrorists would be out of
business without this "war."

How has our war on drugs affected traditional police work? We solve a
much lower percentage of our nation's homicide cases today than we did
in the 1950s, despite more police per capita, better training and
technical equipment. How many serious violent crimes go unresolved
because police are busy chasing marijuana users?

The war on drugs doesn't make us any safer. The war on drugs doesn't
prevent drug abuse. The war on drugs costs a fortune. And the war on
drugs and its huge profits encourage corruption at all levels of law
enforcement.

The good news is that there are workable alternatives. When the Swiss
did a 10-year experiment, treating heroin addicts by giving them
heroin up to three times a day, everything changed. There was a 60
percent drop in property and violent crime, overdose deaths
disappeared, AIDS and hepatitis declined to the lowest rates in
Europe, addiction rates went down as addicts stabilized their lives
enough to kick their habit, and the rate of projected cases of new
heroin users fell by a staggering 82 percent.

By treating heroin addiction as a medical problem, instead of a sign
of bad moral character, officials were able to tame Switzerland's drug
problem and gut the drug dealers, as we had always dreamed -- just
like that.

I represent Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, an international
group of law officers who are sworn opponents of drug abuse. We know a
system of legalized regulation of drugs is more efficient and ethical
than one of prohibition.