HARD CORE DRUG DEALERS ARE BEING SENT TO PRISON

The recent (Feb. 22) letter complaining about sending "non-violent drug
offenders" to prison gave the impression that many first-time drug users
were being locked away for long periods of time.

Actually, as documented by Robert Peterson in "The Success of Tough Drug
Enforcement," 1996, "In the federal system, 97% of sentenced drug prisoners
are traffickers, and 80% of these traffickers sold heroin or cocaine. The
average amount of drugs in a marijuana trafficking case was 3.5 tons! Over
80% of crack cases involve trafficking an average quantity of over 18,000
crack doses.

"Rational enforcement efforts have targeted the most serious and dangerous
drug offenders. Contrary to popular belief, most drug convicts, and nearly
all drug inmates, are repeat or violent criminals. Over 93% of state
inmates are repeat and/or violent criminals and first-time, non-violent
marijuana inmates constitute only one-tenth of one percent of the prison
population!"

So, when one talks about the "non-violent drug offenders" in prison, the
topic is actually about large scale dealers such as the Mr. Whigham whose
sentencing was reported on Feb. 23.

As reported in The Pantagraph, Whigham acknowledged that, "'I know I
messed up some lives, and it's only fair that I pay with some years out of
my own life.' Whigham said he was motivated simply by greed. 'The lure of
money was the root of my evil.'"

I can only hope that the Illinois State University students concerned about
punishments for "non-violent drug offenders" can truly hear such words of
bitter experience.

People who have not yet seen the damage that drugs do to many who use them
need to recognize the limitations of their own experience, and realize that
those of us who support laws against drug use and drug sales aren't so
thoughtless as you imagine.

For drug users, laws are needed to motivate acceptance of treatment. For
drug dealers, their violence is no less real for being caused by the
"product" they sell.

Alan Markwood