WIRETAPS SHOW THE LIMITATIONS OF THE DRUG WAR

Dave Filkins' May 16 story, "Wiretaps reveal dreams of a drug empire,"
clearly shows the flaws in our drug policy and that the drug war can't
be won by the means of arrest and incarceration. This approach has
been tried and tested for the past 40 years without any significant
success.

It's quite apparent that we haven't learned the lessons from alcohol
prohibition. The wiretaps give a window into the lengths people
allegedly go to control the black market. The incentive for profit
also creates an endless stream of people willing to replace those
arrested and fill the need for supply and demand.

The 13-month investigation involving law enforcement agencies at the
federal, state and local level was no doubt extremely costly to the
taxpayer. However, I'll be willing to bet that the government won't
learn any lessons from these wiretaps.

At the news conference to announce this drug investigation, Attorney
General Andrew Cuomo warned potential drug dealers they would be
caught if they dealt in New York state. The notion that his threat
would stop anyone from dealing is laughable. What's frustrating is the
media's reluctance to challenge the government on the effectiveness of
these huge drug busts or inquire about the cost of these enormous
investigations.

The Times Union's decision to publish the wiretaps served to educate
the public. The newspaper should go a step further and use its
editorial page to put the context of these wiretaps into perspective
and offer a critical analysis of the war on drugs.

William Aiken

Schenectady