FEDERAL DRUG WAR STATS SUGGEST POOR PRIORITIES

The nation's "war" on drugs is fought on at least two fronts: At the
federal level and at the "street" level in individual states and communities.

And while there is obviously a need for both national and local efforts to
discourage illegal drug use, there are signs that the federal portion of
this effort is misguided at best and seriously wrongheaded at its worst.

This conclusion arises in the wake of the latest figures out of the Justice
Department on drug prosecutions.

In releasing the report, Attorney General John Ashcroft said the numbers
prove that "federal law enforcement is targeted effectively at convicting
major drug traffickers and punishing them with longer lockups in prison."

But an analysis by the Washington Post of the data in the department
release seems to suggest just the opposite. Some examples:

Between 1984 and 1999, the number of drug suspects referred to federal
prosecutors tripled, to more than 38,000. Of that number, 84 percent were
prosecuted, raising drug cases as a percent of the total federal criminal
caseload to nearly a third.

Drug convicts now make up more than half of the federal inmate population.

All of this is impressive, but the report says that only about one- half of
one percent of criminal referrals were for the most serious drug cases -
"continuing criminal enterprises" - that suggest the activities of major
dealers.

In fact, more than a third of all sentences involved quantities of drugs so
small that no mandatory minimum sentence could be imposed.

Another striking fact was that about a third of federal drug referrals in
1999 involved marijuana, hardly the most dangerous of drugs.

In short the picture is of a drug prosecution strategy that is heavily
focused on low-level, small time offenders who could be handled in state
courts.

The proper federal role is in going after the major criminal enterprises
whose activities cross state and international borders and whose ongoing
conspiracies are beyond the capabilities of most local law enforcement systems.

The fact that the numbers suggest otherwise raise serious questions: Is the
goal of the federal drug program to go after the most dangerous traffickers
and most dangerous drugs, or is it to rack up good statistics?