NOW IS TIME TO END DRUG WAR

We would have to live in a dream world to think it is going to change
anything, but Monday's news that retired Army Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey is
stepping down as the nation's drug czar would be an opportune time for the
country to reconsider its failed war on drugs.

McCaffrey, whose official title is director of the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy, announced he will resign Jan. 6, two weeks
before President Clinton, our national embarrassment, leaves office.

It was McCaffrey who bribed television networks with millions of dollars to
inject anti-drug messages into television shows. He also tried to do the
same with the major Hollywood studios.

Additionally, McCaffrey wants $1.6 billion to take the drug war to
Columbia. That misguided idea would trap this nation in a quagmire with no
escape, similar to the war in Vietnam.

In the five years since Clinton appointed McCaffrey, federal tax dollars
used to fight the war on drugs has increased without any real dent in drug
use. The White House claims adolescent drug abuse has fallen in that time,
but this president has lied so much, it is hard to believe anything that
comes out of the executive mansion.

Besides, if true, the drop in adolescent drug use could be attributed to
many factors, such as education or a better economy rather than a
zero-tolerance policy on drug use by adolescents.

Regardless, reduced teen drug use in no way justifies the immoral and
unconscionable war on drugs.

For instance, Vice President Al Gore has freely admitted to smoking
marijuana while younger. Does this mean he deserves to be locked in a cage?
Of course, he could be lying about his drug use.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 77 million (35.6 percent) of
Americans 12 and older reported some use of an illicit drug at least once
during their lifetime. Should this country, in the name of combating drug
use, imprison 35.6 percent of the population?

The war on drugs has fostered an atmosphere of disrespect for the
Constitution by police agencies and lawmakers across the country.

The Fourth Amendment has been all but redacted in the name of fighting drug
abuse. No-knock warrants, roving wiretaps, property seizure laws, the
militarization of our police forces and random drug searches are becoming
more commonplace as legislators try to win votes by appearing to be tough
on drugs.

The story of police killing innocent people after knocking down the wrong
door is becoming too commonplace for our tastes. For example, police in
Lebanon, Tenn., on Oct. 4 killed John Adams, 64, after bad information from
an informant led them to raid the wrong house.

Only 5 percent of the world's population lives in the United States, but 25
percent of the world's prisoners are housed here, thanks to the failed war
on drugs.

In 1994, 70 percent of everyone convicted of a drug crime was sentenced to
time in jail or prison. More than half of all federal prisoners and nearly
one-third of state prisoners are being held on drug crimes. The United
States spends $9 billion a year incarcerating drug offenders, according to
a recent study by the Justice Policy Institute.

Don't get us wrong, drug use is bad.

But drug use should be considered a social problem, not a criminal one.
There is no justification in outlawing personal behavior, caging a large
percentage of our population and endangering liberty in order to fight
something that is unhealthy.

When we give up liberties to fight a threat, real or perceived, we
undermine the very foundation our freedoms are built on.

We should put an end to the war on drugs and instead concentrate on
education and rehabilitation. It's time to stop the use of incarceration as
a means to effect social change.