THIS WAR IS NOT ABOUT DRUGS

February's news confirms - yet again - that the drug war is not about
drugs.

The Tribune began the month with the illegal drug troubles of two famous
professional athletes, the "crack" sting of an 88 year old widower
(Florida/Metro, Feb. 2) and the funeral of a pretty 13 year old who
overdosed on prescription painkillers (Florida/Metro, Feb. 4). Next came
Andrew Chambers, the confidential informant who has earned $2 million to
$4 million dollars "snitching" - and lying - in drug cases nationwide
(front page, Feb. 15) Near month end we have another case - a Florida one -
of misconduct in the criminal justice system. Both cases had been moving
through the system for some time before being stopped to avoid further
embarrassment to the system. (Notably absent from the Tribune was the story
that our total incarcerated population crossed over the 2 million mark
sometime around mid-February, including about 500,000 non-violent drug
offenders.)

On Feb. 25 the Tribune reported that former coach Clarence White had come
to a meeting of the Tampa City Council to implore city council to give
neighborhood kids something constructive to do, like vocational programs.
As the Tribune reported, ``White got sympathy from the council but no
immediate action.'' Not unexpected.

Politicians prefer coercion because it works. Police drive the dealers out
and the complaints stop. When the dealers resurface in a new neighborhood,
turf battles erupt and complaints begin. Police drive the dealers out and
the complaints stop. When the dealers resurface in a new . . . . . well,
you get the idea. Coercion has other benefits, too. Users get their drugs;
dealers get their money; neighborhoods get safer for a while; and
politicians build a record to run on. No surprise that our drug czars now
tell us that the drug war is not something to be won, but more like
fighting cancer.

As with cancer, no end is in sight. If public interest begins to wane, or
anti-drug budgets are questioned, our Florida drug czar rolls out press
releases to call the public to arms. A February 12th article reported
deaths from "club drugs", from cocaine and from heroin. It was typical of
the press releases issued from time to time by our U.S. drug czar's office
to remind us of such things as

(1) Methamphetamine was pioneered by the Nazis.

(2) A new study confirms that psychoactive substances can be harmful.

(3) A new flood of drugs is arriving in the United States.

(4) Columbia's leftist narco-guerillas are funded by drug sales.

Lest we become overwhelmed at the task, he reminds us that U.S. drug use
was down 13% in 1999, but neglects to mention that drug use now stands 80%
above its 1992 level. To add a human touch, he quotes some poor devil who
says that arrest saved him from a life of addiction.

When drug use goes up, the U.S. drug czar gets more money to fight the new
threat, and when drug use goes down, he gets more money to consolidate his
gains. This war is hugely expensive, but is seen as a necessity by most
folks because they fear things might be worse without it. (They should
study Prohibition and the Roaring Twenties.) Others see the drug war as a
stand against evil. A very few don't care what it is as long as they profit
from it.

Whatever this war is, it's not about drugs. If it were, most of those
500,000 non-violent drug offenders would be liquor distributors, just as
they were during Prohibition.

John Chase, Palm Harbor