TASK FORCE ARRESTS REFLECT UNRELENTING WAR ON DRUGS

Two major drug busts within the past two months in the area reflect
two certainties: cocaine trafficking and consumption still abound,
and law enforcement officers working hard to rein in on the activity
continue to need the public's support.

Both police operations -- one that went down in early April in
Pensacola, and the other that took place last week in Milton --
involved task forces composed of multiple local, county and state law
enforcement agencies. And each resulted in the impoundment at least
$100,000 in drugs, guns and cash.

The two law enforcement actions, coupled with local and state
drug-education programs aimed at school-age youngsters, provide
exactly the kind of two-pronged approach the Pensacola Bay Area needs
to show that officials and the law-abiding public mean business when
it comes to no tolerance for drug abusers.

Unfortunately, the downside of enforcing drug laws is the immense
cost. To be successful, anti-drug task force operations consume many
man hours and much expense -- diverting tax dollars away from other
needs in the community, such as health care for the indigent, housing
assistance, job-training programs and rehabilitation efforts for
those who get hooked on illegal drugs in the first place.

Moreover, the investigation and resulting arrests constitute only
part of the expense of carrying out this war. The costs of
adjudication, sentencing and imprisonment follow.

The upside of policing drug activities is that the arrests of the
suspects involved often cut down on other criminal activities such as
assault, burglary, transportation of stolen property, gang activity,
even rape and -- as suspected in the Santa Rosa bust -- drive-by shootings.

The continuing war against drug abuse is formidable. Studies by the
National Institute on Drug Abuse indicate that in 2004, the most
recent year for which statistics have been compiled, more than 34
million Americans age 12 or older had used cocaine alone. Results of
a 2005 study by the institute showed that cocaine use among
youngsters appears to have leveled off. But still, an estimated 8
percent of all U.S. high school seniors had experienced cocaine,
while 4 percent had used crack cocaine (named for the sound its
crystals make when heated).

Progress in the war could come faster if more people stepped forward
to steer police toward criminal drug activity. However, most people
don't want to "get involved" because snitches could face
repercussions from the drug abusers and the abusers' friends -- or
because the abusers are family members, and family "loyalty" trumps
everything else.

Those contribute to the reasons it costs so much to pursue and
prosecute those in the drug trade.

The men and women who put on badges and bring drug suspects to
justice have earned public commendation. And today's reality is: The
battle against illicit drugs likely will never end, as long as there
is a criminal element among us. But the vast population of
law-abiding citizens is grateful to those who take an oath and risk
life and limb to keep society honest.