WE ARE LOSING 'DRUG WAR'

I am writing in response to the recent Community Voices piece by Sheriff
Carl Sparks. The title of the piece was very misleading in that it implied
that the Sheriff's Department was somehow keeping Kern County "drug free."
Evidence is almost all to the contrary. We have become known as a
methamphetamine production capital. The foothills and mountains harbor
numerous marijuana patches. Illegal and prescription drugs are readily
available for sale to anyone in almost every corner of the county.

The reason I write is that the assumption that we are somehow winning the
war on drugs in this country has resulted in disastrous public policy.
Until we, as a citizenry, recognize that the current strategies of
enforcement, interdiction and incarceration are both ineffective and wildly
inefficient, we will not seriously consider changing to other, potentially
more effective strategies.

Until we dramatically decrease the demand for drugs via significantly
increased efforts in education and treatment, we will not make progress in
this war. And one Vietnam per generation is enough for me.

John Tarjan, Bakersfield