FED FUNDING: 'DRUG WAR' LOST TO FOCUS ON IRAQ?

Is America giving up on the "drug war" in favor of fighting the war in Iraq?

Mississippi's 14 multijurisdictional narcotics task forces were told
on Sept. 29 that their federal funding was being cut. Cuts are blamed
on the Iraq war.

The U.S. Justice Department's Byrne Justice Assistance Grant used to
fund the task forces has dropped from $5.3 million in 2003 to about
$2 million this year, forcing some to shut down already.

It's particularly acute in the Delta, where the state's largest task
force - the eight-county North Central Narcotics Task Force - is
losing its $280,000. It netted 162 drug arrests in the past fiscal year.

At the same time, increased resources going to Iraq has shifted
attention from Afghanistan, which now is producing 82 percent of the
world's opium, providing 90 percent of its heroin. This year, it
produced a record crop: up 59 percent, to produce 6,700 tons of opium
that sold for $50 billion on the street, according to the United Nations.

State Sen. David Jordan, D-Greenwood, has called a meeting Nov. 14
for state Department of Public Safety and Delta law enforcement
officials to attempt to save the Delta funding.

Last month, Mississippi Sheriff's Association President Andrew
Thompson sent a letter to federal officials and state legislators
saying the yanked funding puts the region at risk to drug dealers.

Mississippi might have to fight alone.