DRUG WAR: FEDERAL GOV'T RAISING THE WHITE FLAG?

Has the federal government given up on the Drug War? Is it raising
the white flag and admitting defeat in attempting to curb crimes
involving illegal drugs?

Or is it simply saying to local communities and states: You pay the cost.

Those are logical questions since Mississippi's 14 local drug task
forces have been asked to trim grant requests by 25 percent because
of federal funding cuts.

Federal assistance to local law enforcement in Mississippi during the
Bush administration has dipped from almost $5.3 million in 2003 to
just more than $2 million this year. Federal officials say the funds
are being shifted to fight terrorism.

So, is that the decision? Fight drugs or fight terrorists? Give up on
small communities' drug-fueled crime?

According to The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse,
availability of drugs is now essentially the same in big cities,
small towns and rural areas. Yet, in contrast with the Clinton
administration which funneled funds to local agencies, the Bush
administration has proposed reducing by $1.2 billion federal block
grant funding for law enforcement. These cuts include elimination of
the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant program - the largest and most
flexible source of federal funding for local law enforcement - and an
80 percent reduction in Community Oriented Police Services (COPS).

So much for this "conservative" administration supporting "law and order!"