THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC COSTS OF DRUG PROHIBITION

David Harsanyi's May 13 column "The government's sorta-kinda-maybe
logic" really nailed it.

He clearly laid out all of the important issues regarding drug
prohibition: the costly, self-perpetuating bureaucracy that feeds on
the war on drugs (and people), the massive incarceration of
non-violent drug offenders, paramilitary operations in the name of
public safety, holes the size of Colorado in the governments new
"report" and the relationship of that report to Walters' recent tour
of the country trying to scare school systems into drug testing their
students.

Perhaps Walters' didn't read about the recent Washington State Supreme
Court ruling prohibiting these tests as illegal searches. In fact, one
of their school districts wasted nearly $300,000 tax dollars randomly
testing students with a positive test rate of "maybe 2 percent."

I suppose we could look at Walters with a little compassion,
considering the reality of this failed war on drugs is finally hitting
mainstream consciousness. His job (and a bazillion others) is on the
line because we now have people like David Harsanyi helping bring
common sense to this problem. It's only a matter of time before
Americans finally understand the impact of our U.S. Prohibition style
drug policies.

We know there are more smart-thinking, mainstream people like David
Harsanyi. Last year, 225 of our country's mayors -- at their annual
U.S. Conference of Mayors' meeting -- unanimously passed a resolution
saying end the drug war and find a better solution focused on harm
reduction. And discrediting those folks will be hard for Walters, et
al to do.

I especially appreciate this line from Harsanyi's column: "Children
shouldn't use drugs, and even if drugs were legalized, no one is
advocating children should be able to use them."

Individuals and organizations that believe legalizing and regulating
drugs is the best way out of this madness regularly answer many
illogical questions--the result of the massive brainwashing of folks
exactly like Walters. However, we're patient and we continue to
educate the public as to how legalization would look in practice. We
combat fear-based thinking and hysteria.

Here, for instance, are a few of the questions I'm regularly asked
about legalization of drugs:

Q: Will drug use increase with legalization?

A: A recent Zogby poll showed 99 percent of those answering whether
they would use illegal drugs if they became legal said "No." Start
with yourself. Will YOU shoot heroin if it becomes illegal?

Q: How will we tell kids to avoid drugs if it's perfectly legal for
adults to buy and use them?

A: The same way we do now with the legal drugs (alcohol, tobacco and
pharmaceutical drugs): with education. We educate our kids and arm
them with facts, not scare tactics or punitive measures like forcibly
taking their body fluids. We know education and treating the drug
problem as a social and medical problem will be the best solution.

We also realize that, no matter how hard we try, some will always
abuse harmful substances (just as many do with alcohol and tobacco).
Yet we've seen the results of educational efforts regarding those
substances through medical organizations and other groups made up of
plain old humans (MADD is a classic example).

Through educational effort, Americans' use of tobacco has decreased
nearly 50 percent in the last 25 years and alcohol consumption has
been reduced as well. Better yet, more and more we hear talk of
designated drivers, responsible drinking and things like "friends
don't let friends drive drunk" and we've seen a significant reduction
in alcohol related driving incidents when compared to the increase in
drivers and miles driven in the past 30 years.

Q: Who will distribute, price and decide potency?

A: You will. You will have your say, and your representatives will
help determine the best ways, just as they do today with legal drugs
(alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceutical drugs). Sorry, but we at Law
Enforcement Against Prohibition know better than to engage in the "how
to regulate" conversation. We're law enforcement, not legislators. We
enforce laws, not create them.

Q: Do you know where I can get some really good drugs?

A: No. I don't condone drug use and it's still illegal. If you want
some "good drugs", then help us make it legal. Then we can stop
putting you and your friends in prison.