WAR ON DRUGS IS INEFFECTIVE

I commend Windsor County State's Attorney Robert Sand for having the
intellectual integrity and political courage to point out the
self-defeating nature of our approach to drugs (Herald, Nov. 30).

I was a probation officer for 25 years, most of which was in the
federal system here in Vermont, before retiring in 1997. My career
coincided with the ramp-up of the "War on Drugs," and I had the
opportunity to observe its ineffectiveness first-hand.

The various drugs that we classify as illegal are usually dangerous
substances and certainly pose both individual and public health
problems. However, we selectively decide which substances to
criminalize. Once we criminalize a substance, we transform a health
problem into a social problem. We create a market incentive -- and by
criminalizing a drug, we ensure that the only ones who will respond to
that market incentive are those willing to operate outside the law.
Operating outside the law means that the usual mechanisms for
resolving business conflicts -- suing for breach of contract, for
example -- are not available. Hence, when business conflicts arise,
they tend to be resolved by extra-legal means, i.e., violence. We also
artificially inflate the price of the commodity we have criminalized,
meaning that huge profit margins are available to those willing to
break the law. We transform health problems into social problems, to
the detriment of everyone in our society. And because it is so
profitable, we create a powerful market incentive for people,
especially those marginalized due to discrimination or lack of
education, to enter the market. In my career I saw numerous drug
pushers who were ill-equipped to operate in the legitimate economy,
but who made fortunes (and wreaked untold havoc) by selling drugs.

It is very difficult to have a rational discussion of this emotionally
charged topic, and I commend Mr. Sand for his effort to start that
process here in Vermont. The present system harms many and protects
few, while guaranteeing a never-ending source of criminals and social
damage. We need to step back and re-examine what we are doing. We have
the polar opposite of the "If it ain't broke don't fix it" situation.
Our present approach is deeply flawed and does a great deal of harm.
We need to fix it. I am heartened to see Mr. Sand take the public lead
in that effort.

Jim Dean,

Burlington,

The writer is retired chief U.S. probation officer.