FAILED WAR ON DRUGS

I read the article about the fall from grace of former Lamb County narcotics
officer Wes Campbell (A-J, 6-20). While I don't disagree that drugs like
crack consume users, I think there is a larger lesson to be learned.

Campbell's story is not an isolated incident and bears resemblance to
similar controversies in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. The
nationwide scandals have one thing in common: the institutional corruption
fueled by the drug war. The lure of easy money can be overpowering. Along
with obscene amounts of dirty money comes unlimited access to addictive
drugs. When good cops go bad society is put at risk. Even honest cops are
tainted: Civil asset forfeiture has turned what should be protectors of the
peace into predators.

Ironically, the corruption associated with illegal drugs is often cited as a
reason for increased drug war spending. Yet it is the laws themselves that
give rise to this corruption. Like alcohol prohibition, the drug war is
doing a great deal of harm to society, with little to show for it. On
average, non-violent drug offenders spend more time in federal prisons than
individuals convicted of violent crimes like rape. Yet zero tolerance has
not stopped the flow of drugs. Children have an easier time buying illegal
drugs than legal ones -- drug dealers don't ID for age. While concern for
the children is the ruse used to fool the American public, it is an
addiction to money and power that perpetuates the failed drug war.

Robert Sharpe, Washington, D.C. Via e-mail