ANOTHER ELEMENT OF A FAILING POLICY

The 1936 anti-drug movie "Tell Your Children" - more commonly known as
"Reefer Madness" - follows the destructive paths of several young
people who become "addicted" to marijuana through wild parties
thrown by pushers.

Looking back on the movie with the knowledge we have today of the
effects of marijuana, "Tell Your Children" is more of a joke than a
cautionary tale about the dangers of drug use. We have a feeling
later generations will think the same thing about some of the ways
governments are attempting to fight the so-called "war on drugs" today.

A cold sufferer can no longer stop by the corner drug store and pick
up the most effective decongestant. Many popular brands contain a key
ingredient that can be used in cooking methamphetamine so the feds
have restricted the amount a person can buy at one time. Stores now
must keep it behind the pharmacy counter and make people ask for it.

In place for a few years now, the restrictions haven't lowered the
amount of meth on the streets. As an effective tool in reducing U.S.
drug use, it has been a failure.Another government attempt to cut down
on drug use has been laws that ban the sale of "drug paraphernalia."
Of course, pot smoking hasn't gone away. Users simply found other
common objects that could be used. Banning things doesn't keep them
from people who want them. But governments never seem to learn this
lesson.

Now Chicago's City Council is considering a ban on the use sale and
possession of tiny self-sealing plastic bags often used to package
small quantities of drugs. According to a news report in the Chicago
Sun-Times, Alderman Robert Fioretti got the idea for the ban after he
picked up a dozen or so bags off the ground in a stroll through a city
park. He wrote the ordinance and is guiding it through the City Council.

Language in the proposal would outlaw "self-sealing plastic bags
under two inches in either height or width." Setting aside the
previously mentioned fact that bans don't work, the next problem is
that the law would be easy to circumvent. A blogger dis-cussing the
issue on one site wrote that now he'd have to start buying his drugs
in larger quantities.One council member expressed concern that
innocent people could be caught up in the ban. He told the members
that similar bags are used to hold extra buttons and jewelry. Crafters
and other hobbyists use them to store small items they use.

Not to worry, he was told, language in the bill says '"one
reason-ably should know that such items will be or are being used' to
pack-age, transfer, deliver or store a con-trolled substance," the
Sun-Times story said. Store clerks will apparently be asked to be
mind readers and discern the future uses of the bags they sell, and if
they're wrong, they face $1,500 fines.

In a stunning display that those running the drug war don't have a
clue, Lt. Kevin Navarro, who heads up the Chicago Police Department's
Narcotics and Gang Unit, called the proposal an '"important tool' to
go after grocery stores, health food stores and other businesses."
That's a relief; grocery stores are such an important link in the drug
trade. Another council member backed the ban, saying it's a desperate
measure to address what he called "the most destructive force" in the
city's neighborhoods.

He almost has it right. "The most destructive force" in his city and
others isn't drugs; it's the drug war that drives up the price of
drugs and makes dealing them so attractive to criminal elements.The
drug war isn't working. It's time for officials to stop worrying about
being tagged with the soft-on-crime label and take courageous steps to
re-evaluate a failed policy.