ON FRONT LINES OF THE DRUG WAR

Knowing of his interest in drug-war issues, John Morgan's daughter in League
City sometimes clips this edge of the page to send him.

Morgan lives in Ohio. He retired a half-dozen years ago after working almost
three decades as a DEA agent. Recently he e-mailed a contribution to our
ongoing debate and discussion about criminal-justice issues.

First, he provided a thumbnail resume: "I was hired as a Bureau of Drug
Abuse Control (which preceded the DEA) agent in 1967 in Los Angeles. I
worked mostly in California, Florida, Ohio, New England, Texas, Oklahoma and
Washington, D.C.," he said. "My last assignment, at retirement, was
supervising the Northern Ohio State and Local Drug Task Force."

His career included undercover work, conducting and supervising
investigations of clandestine labs and smuggling and the diversion of
legally manufactured drugs. He also spoke often to schools, churches and
civic groups as part of his agency's demand reduction and prevention
efforts.

Earning his credentials "My background and involvement in the high-risk,
hands-on segment of our so-called drug war, coupled with my age (63), give
me some credentials to speak knowledgeably on the subject," he said.

Morgan believes the drug war can be won. However, he said some of his ideas
about what it will take to win it are 180 degrees from "positions held dear
by many of my former colleagues in law enforcement."

One example: "We must create a real drug prevention and education program.
Scrap DARE. Get the police out of it. It sends the wrong message to children
- -- cops and drugs. Drug prevention is the job of parents primarily, with
help from educators and health professionals -- not the police!"

Another example: "Some serious thought must also be given to legalization.
Most of our problem drugs were legal prior to 1921."

Remember where this man is coming from, what he has done, what he has seen,
who he has known ... .

"By 1973, those of us on the front lines of what was being called the drug
war had already seen action," he said. "We all had been friendly with or
knew, or saw a fellow drug-war soldier killed or seriously injured in the
line of duty. Today, more than 30 years after its creation, the drug war
goes on -- one of the longest wars in our nation's history."

And one that has grown, and grown, and grown. Morgan said that when he began
his career there were just a few hundred agents fighting drugs. Now, he
pointed out, the DEA has about 4,500 agents, the FBI also is involved in the
war, as well as several other federal agencies, state and local police, and
the military.

"Why then, are we not winning?" he asks. "Demand is part of the reason," he
answers. "Demand and its enormous associated profits drive the trade. If
there were no demand, the drug profiteers would create one in the same ways
marketers of legal products create demand."

The rest of the reason The rest of the reason we aren't winning involves a
lack of will and conscience that is national in scope, he said: "If we, as
Americans, ever get past our inability to look reality in the eye, a
tendency that took root and grew during the Vietnam era, we would realize we
all contribute to the problem."

He said he has just begun writing a book about the drug war and hopes that
by including his adventures as a working agent and supervisor, the book and
his views will find a wider audience than many of the academic volumes he
has encountered in his research.

"We can win this war," he said. "We just have to be flexible in our thinking
and want to win."

Morgan may have something. His way, our drug warriors won't have to admit
defeat and retreat from the drug war. We just turn the battle plan away from
guns and prisons, use legalization as a tactic, focus on education, enlist
doctors and parents and teachers to lead the charge.

Some of us have been thinking that these measures should replace the drug
war. Morgan is saying they are the way to make winning it possible. His
terminology doubtless will be more palatable to his former colleagues.

And as long as the results are the same.