U.S. WAR ON DRUGS CREATES PROBLEMS

As I read through the chronology of events in the Peeler case recently
published in the Connecticut Post, it struck me once again how the entire
tragedy could have been avoided if not for the "War on Drugs."

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to paint Peeler as a victim or a
martyr. He is a vicious killer who has been convicted of murdering at least
one person and is charged with ordering the murders of an innocent
8-year-old child and his mother. He belongs in prison, I'm glad he's
there, and the streets of Bridgeport are no doubt a little bit safer
without him.

But we as a society are far from innocent here. Our attempts to control
drugs by total prohibition have backfired, leading to violence and
corruption far beyond that which can be caused by drugs themselves, while
still failing to control the supply. Yet, like addicts in denial, we
continue to show our support for the same failed policies, cheering at the
rhetoric of get-tough politicians who share with us their hallucination of
a drug-free America.

Drug prohibition creates an unprecedented opportunity for the Russell
Peelers of this world to "elevate" their status from two-bit street
hoodlums to the criminal equivalent of high level business executives.

With that kind of money to be made, can we really be so naive to think
there won't be another two-bit hoodlum to take Peeler's place? There will
always be some percentage of the population who wants recreational drugs.
And as long as that demand exists, someone will supply. He'll sell cocaine
of unknown quality to anyone of any age who has the cash, recruit kids into
his business, make a lot of money, buy himself a few cops, and maybe kill a
few people before we either catch him and create an opportunity for his
successor, or a rival kills him and creates his own opportunity.

How many more innocent children must be murdered, or recruited into the
profitable and violent black market, before we break the cycle and adopt a
more rational and compassionate drug policy; one that stresses prevention,
education, and treatment instead of pretending that law enforcement can
solve a public health problem?

Jerry Rivard
Newtown