Drug Laws Need Rethinking

Editor, Times-Dispatch: When someone is in a hole, the first thing he needs to
do is to stop digging.

Police Chief Jerry Oliver has reached that point. In his October 22
Commentary column, he points out some of the obvious flaws in the way
we've been reacting to drugs in America, and calls for us to rethink
our approach.

He is to be saluted for his courage in doing so. I've been active in
this field for nearly 30 years, and have long since lost track of the
number of politicians who have told me privately they agree that our
drug laws are stupid, but that acting to change them would cost them
votes. I suppose the difference is that a police officer has more
courage than a politician.

Our police have vastly more important things to do than to sniff out
dope smokers. It's worth noting that drug offenses are not even
included in the FBI's "serious crimes" report as cited in an October
16 news story, but they account for a huge fraction of the prison
population! At a recent State Crime Commission meeting a Richmond
officer told me they still don't bother taking fingerprints in
burglary cases, even when there is a known suspect; I presume that
that's because they're too busy enforcing laws against victimless crimes.

It is indeed time, and past time, to rethink our strategy on drug
laws. As part of that, I voted for the Libertarian candidate, Harry
Browne. Our police should protect us from predators, not from
ourselves.

Roy Scherer, Richmond.