BUDGET CUTS: WHAT HAPPENED TO DRUG 'WAR?'

The News That Two Drug Task Forces In Mississippi Are Shutting Down
Couldn't Come At A Worse Time.

Crime is on the increase, nationally and here in Mississippi. Much
of the crime is driven by drugs. It is a problem not limited to
urban areas. In fact, rural areas of the state have unique and
difficult drug problems that require special enforcement.

Yet, at the time crime is on an increase, much-needed federal grant
money is being cut.

The North Central Narcotics Task force and the Metro Narcotics Unit
in DeSoto County have been informed that the federal grant money
that funds the state's 14 narcotics units is drying up.

Federal funding has been cut 60 percent, down to $2 million from the
$5.3 million in 2003.

Federal officials blame changes in federal priorities to homeland
security for the cuts. State Rep. John Mayo, D-Clarksdale, who
represents the area covered by the unit, was told the budgetary
pressures from the war in Iraq also are taking a toll on federal
funding for such programs. Mayo is rightly angered that safety at
home is being sacrificed for the Iraq war.

Security at home includes basic safety. Federal funding is critical
to such specialized programs as drug enforcement.

The United States is committed to the war in Iraq, but it also must
be committed to the drug war at home. These cuts should be restored.

[Sidebar]

Priorities

Shifts in federal funding priorities to homeland security should not
sacrifice federal funding for law enforcement in the war against drugs.