I RAN A DRUG ENFORCEMENT TEAM

Dear Editor,

Recently, there have been some letters to our citizens of this county
and state by some writers who think that drugs, in particular,
marijuana, should be legalized. I would like to ask them if they would
like to have their children's school bus driver kick back and smoke a
joint just before he or she starts their bus route.

While they are thinking about that, maybe those same people who are
for legalization would like to have the pilot of the jetliner that
they may be flying on their vacation to Disney World kick back and
smoke a couple of joints to help them relax. We know how hectic it can
be for the pilot to fly in bad weather that may pop up at any time. I
mean, what the heck, don't other people have a right to do that in
their own home, are they bothering anyone?

What about the poor kid who in his very young age decides to smoke
marijuana like his old man? Hey, his old man can do it without hurting
anyone, why can't the kid? Of course, we know how addictive it is.
Folks can't even quit smoking and one bad habit leads to another one.

Just about everyone I have ever come in contact with who is a dope
head on crack cocaine started out smoking marijuana. After crack, due
to the expense of it, they have to start selling it to their friends.

For those of you who did not know the price of all of this dope, let
me enlighten you. The price of one gram of cocaine is about $100-$125.
Now, what is a gram, you ask? One gram is the same amount of powder as
is in one pack of Sweet and Low or Splenda. It's about one snort.

Now, what do I know about all of this stuff, you ask? I'm glad you
asked.

I spent more than 26 years of my life as a police officer. I have
worked all over the state of Michigan and the last three years of my
career I ran a drug enforcement team in the city of Saginaw and the
county. The city and county of Midland and the city and county of Bay.
I worked with the finest men and women in the world, Michigan police
officers.

As far as busting illegal drug houses, we did it all the time. We
executed hundreds of search warrants and could only handle about one
half of the cases we had, due to lack of manpower. When we executed a
search warrant, it was always for dealing drugs, never for use, only
because we did not have the time.

Ben Sizemore

Caro