THE DRUG-WAR MADNESS

It would cost Iowa taxpayers $1 million to jail one person under a new
"ecstasy" law.

Serious drug abusers will pay a personal penalty for the remainder of their
lives for brief pleasure. Society, too, will pay a hefty penalty for many
years to come for the misbegotten "war" on drugs. Two recent stories in
Iowa help explain why.

Earlier this month, the Iowa House of Representatives voted 96-1 to create
a new penalty of up to 50 years in prison and a $1 million fine for anyone
convicted of manufacturing or selling more than 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of
the illegal drug known as "ecstasy," which has apparently become a popular
party drug among Iowa youngsters.

The reality is that very few if any drug makers or dealers will go to
prison for 50 years. No one will pay a $1 million fine. This sort of
legislation is designed not so much to send people to prison as it is
designed to send a message.

Assume, though, that just one "ecstasy" dealer did go to prison for 50
years. At $20,000 a year for 50 years, the taxpayers of Iowa would pay $1
million for that message. That doesn't include the cost of prosecution,
inflation in prison costs or the lost economic productivity of that inmate
for 50 years.

That is a very expensive message. The trouble is, the kids who are popping
the pills at parties aren't hearing it. As long as they want the stuff,
someone will supply it.

It wouldn't be so bad if this were the only time the Legislature used the
criminal-justice system to send messages. Lawmakers have been raising
criminal penalties and mandating minimum prison sentences for years now,
and the prisons are bursting at the seams, even after an unprecedented
prison-building boom. The result: Prison costs have become one of the
fastest-growing parts of the state budget. They are off-limits to cuts, so
other essential services are sacrificed in lean times.

Meanwhile, the reason why the drug dealers continue to be successful -
demand for illegal drugs - is still not addressed in a meaningful way. And
it never will be as long as lawmakers are obsessed with sending people to
prison and keeping them there for longer sentences for non-violent offenses.

The second report from the drug-war front involves an Iowa State University
student recently busted for having marijuana in his dorm room. The student
faces not only a criminal penalty but the possibility of having to drop out
of school. Congress, it seems, passed a law that threatens to deny
financial aid to students convicted of drug crimes.

Thus, a few unlucky kids among the many recreational drug users on college
campuses will pay a penalty far out of proportion to the severity of the crime.

How is society benefited by denying someone a college education? This is
but one small example of mindless legislation inspired by hysteria over
drugs in America.

Someplace, sometime, it's got to stop.