LEGALIZATION WOULD BE A MISTAKE

Legalizing all drugs, as Jack A. Cole proposed in his commentary "War
on drugs has been a whopper of a failure" (Jan. 23 Opinion), would be
a mistake that would have grave consequences for our country.

Cole makes the remarkable claim that drug violence is caused not by
drug use but by enforcement efforts against drugs. He recommends
giving up the fight because after spending billions of dollars,
America's drug problem persists. But how much worse would our drug
problem be if we'd surrendered our streets to the drug peddlers and
the legions of walking dead whose lives and souls have been stolen by
addiction?

Should we legalize murder because we've been fighting it since Cain
killed Abel, yet murder persists? Should we decriminalize sexual
assault, because the billions we have poured into eradicating it could
have been better spent by treating the effects "as a medical problem"?

Of course not. We'd be crazy to save money by this approach -- as
crazy as we'd be to adopt Cole's approach to drugs.

History and common sense tell us that where countries have relaxed
drug prohibitions, drug use has increased. So would it under this
ill-advised proposal.

Drug use would soar. More children would be left on their own by
parents too strung out to care for them. More Americans would find
themselves too sick or dazed to hold a job. More parents would be
forced to watch helplessly while their children destroyed their lives
for fleeting pleasures. More addicts would turn to crime and violence,
not from (as Cole claims) dealer turf wars or addict attempts to
obtain money for drugs, but from the violence that results from a
drug-addled mind and from drug-altered impulse control.

Cole encouraged us to look to Switzerland, whose alternative approach
of treating heroin addicts changed "everything." But the truth is that
Switzerland has not legalized all drugs. Law enforcement is still a
vital pillar of the country's drug policy, ranked equally with
prevention and treatment. The Swiss treatment program is nothing like
the radical suggestion Cole makes of legalizing all drugs.

Similar addiction prevention and treatment programs are a critical
part of America's fight against drugs. They are having an impact
across this country every day of every year, without the necessity of
legalizing the drugs that caused the very addictions they treat.

Cole's message is designed to be appealing, especially to those who
want to experiment with drugs without risk of being caught. He makes
complex problems sound simple and offers solutions that appear easy.
He even has retired law enforcement officers supporting his
"solution." But the overwhelming majority of law enforcement officers,
social workers, addiction therapists and Americans know what a
disaster this would be for our communities and our nation.