LEGALIZING DRUGS WILL REMOVE PROFIT, STIGMA

The March 2 article in the Argus Leader about meth labs - "Buyer
beware: Labs leave toxic legacy" - details more malfunctions of our
failed drug policy.

I'm a former police officer, and I believe we've created the problem
of meth-contaminated homes by making this drug illegal. In fact, most
of our current drug woes have been created specifically because of our
prohibition-style drug policies.

How can a former cop blame our drug woes on the policies aimed at
stopping the scourge of drugs? Let's examine the facts.

No city in our country is drug-free. Our prisons aren't drug-free. How
can we expect our children's schools or our communities to be
drug-free? In fact, many larger cities are plagued with violence from
drug-dealing gangs and criminal syndicates. If the war on drugs was
successful, South Dakotans wouldn't be concerned about chemical
contamination in their homes from former meth labs.

After 38 years, $1 trillion spent and a prison population that now
exceeds 2.3 million people (the largest in the world - both in total
and per capita), the U.S. is further from our drug-free goal than when
we began. And home-grown meth labs have been disappearing in South
Dakota and elsewhere like sprayed thistles in soybeans. Most meth now
comes from Mexico, is twice as potent, and those dealers don't
tolerate competition very well.

We must admit our beloved war on drugs is a failure and consciously
change our direction.

As shocking as it might sound, I believe the most reasonable course to
take is to legalize all drugs. By re-legalizing those few substances
now illegal, we immediately remove the drug dealers' profit and stigma
of addiction that hinders addicts from seeking treatment. We also free
up police resources better spent on pursuing real crimes and criminals.

Remember when South Dakota worried about commodity prices and not meth
labs? Legalizing and regulating drugs will eliminate meth labs, allow
our doctors to help addicts instead of turning them in to the police
and allow the police to chase criminals who burglarize and assault
us.

Legalization is not a radical idea. It is a common-sense solution to a
problem of our own creation. Prohibition is chaos. Legalization means
regulation and control.