IT'S TIME TO END POINTLESS WAR ON DRUGS

When I read the news these days I often shake my head in wonder. Does
no one see it? The evidence is posted daily, evidence that provides
proof that after three decades of fighting the war on drugs we have
gained no ground and are no closer to ending the tragedy of drug abuse.

Recent coverage in the Times Recorder spoke of a 10-year-old child
living in squalor, in a home where drug use was a daily occurrence
with multiple adult users. For the last 30 years, that story has
played out across America.

It has been 30 years since President Nixon's declaration of war and
things have changed, but not for the better. We've arrested millions,
spent billions and drugs today are more plentiful, cheaper and easier
to find. Where is the success in this, our new Prohibition? Police
every day arrest drug dealers and drug users, but at what cost? The
nation that was once proudly known as the "Land of the Free" now has
the highest incarceration rate on the planet. If we cannot legislate,
arrest or spend our way to success how do we put an end to tragedies
like that of the 10-year-old in the recent Zanesville bust?

As a former police captain I know from my firsthand experience that
this war cannot be won. I know that we err in repeating the failures
of Prohibition. The same problems that plagued us then, plague us
now; illicitly produced substances are controlled by criminals and gangs.

We make rich men out of street level punks. We leave production,
distribution and sales of these substances in the hands of those with
no concern for the purity of their product or the age of their customers.

Corruption is widespread. Drugs are as available in our prisons and
schools as they are on the street. Innocents die in gang violence.
Users die from tainted drugs. Hepatitis and HIV/AIDS are at epidemic
levels among the needle sharing population of drug users, both on the
street and in our jails and prisons.

I am one of the founders of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, an
organization dedicated to reducing harm and creating a safer society.
LEAP (www.leap.cc) is an organization of criminal justice
professionals and concerned citizens, with over 6,500 members,
joining together to speak out against the failure of our drug policy.

There are other choices available. We must engage in an active
nationwide debate and a discussion of options to our current failed
policy. We need to understand that Prohibition is a regime that
provides only a punitive approach and allows for no legitimate
control or regulation. Under a policy of regulation, instituted by
legalizing drugs, we can fund treatment where necessary, engage in
effective education, like we have done with tobacco, and free up
police resources to engage in fighting real crime.