ALCOHOL OR DRUGS, LITTLE'S CHANGED SINCE VOLSTEAD

We begin today a series of editorials that draw perspective from
News-Journal opinions written for this page earlier this century. As we
focus on current topics of public concern, it is remarkable how fresh those
earlier editorial voices echo through time. - the editors.

Bootlegging. Rum-running. Speakeasies.

The words are redolent with nostalgia, but in 1930, they were the first
hint of a storm on the horizon.

Prohibition still had three years left to run, but the public was starting
to realize that the 1920 Volstead Act, which banned the manufacture and
sale of alcoholic beverages, contained the seeds of serious trouble for the
American criminal justice system. Alarm was spreading to the highest
offices in the land, including that of then-Attorney General William D.
Mitchell.

The News-Journal discussed the issue in a Dec. 20, 1930, editorial:

"Dispensing of federal justice has turned into a matter of mass production.
... At least that is the impression one cannot help but get from reading
the annual report of Attorney General Mitchell, released today.

"Congestion in the courts, congestion in the jails, congestion in the
penitentiaries is a dominant theme of the report. ...

"Jail and prison sentences for bootlegging or rum-running were imposed in
27,709 cases in 1930, 7,107 more than in 1929, and the average length of
sentences increased in greater proportion than did the number. Twenty-nine
vessels were seized. Padlocks were put on 8,801 speakeasies, a gain of
2,498 over last year. ...

"But whither is it all leading? At the close of the fiscal year in June
there were 155,730 federal cases pending. Of 35,849 criminal cases, 22,671
were under the Volstead Act. ...

"Let the Department of Justice be as efficient as it can, but there is a
limit to all this. Before this limit is reached, it is to be hoped that the
American people will recognize the pernicious mistake of clogging the
wheels of federal justice with cases beneath the dignity and importance of
federal jurisprudence."

If these themes don't seem relevant today, read the passage again - and
this time, substitute "anti-narcotics laws" for "Volstead Act" and "crack
houses" for "speakeasies."

Try this one: "War on drugs" for "Prohibition."

Prohibition is the direct ancestor of America's current drug problem. And
until recently, officials were putting most of their time and money into
solutions as outdated in the 1920s as they are now.

It's not hard to draw comparisons:

- -- Laws don't ensure compliance.

Prohibition laws were widely ignored. Officials were able to intercept only
5 percent of the alcohol imported into the country, a gap that was more
than filled by the boom in home brewing and distilling.

Drugs offer a similar challenge. The best efforts of law enforcement aren't
making a dent in the drug trade in America. Here's a sobering statistic: In
1998, half of American high school students reported using some kind of
illegal drug - usually marijuana - at least once.

- -- Cases clog courts.

Nearly 10 percent of U.S. arrests last year were for drug offenses. The
overwhelming majority were for simple possession alone. Looking at today's
statistics, the 1930 figures are almost laughable. Combined, state and
federal courts handled 1 million drug cases in 1998.

Even with tougher penalties, courts have developed revolving doors, with
many drug offenders coming back time after time. Florida courts stagger
under this burden. The Legislature is petitioned nearly every year for more
prosecutors and judges to handle the caseload.

- -- Organized crime wins.

Most criminologists trace the birth of organized crime in America to
Prohibition. By creating an entire nation of lawbreakers, and cutting off
legitimate distribution, the government all but mandated a shadow industry
built on evading police and nurtured on violence.

Again, the roots of organized crime seem almost innocent compared to its
activities today. Bugsy Malone would probably blanch at the idea of using
9-year-olds as lookouts; the St. Valentine's Day massacrepales beside the
casual violence of South American drug lords, who will stop at nothing to
feed American habits. Drug-based gangs run amok in Florida cities.

- -- Incidental crime increases.

It's impossible to assess the impact of drug use on the overall crime rate
in this country, because drug use is so pervasive among those charged with
crimes. The National Office of Drug Control Policy conducted a study in
1995 that showed an overwhelming majority of arrestees - particularly those
arrested for property crimes - also tested positive for recent illegal drug
use.

As a conduit for a large part of the illegal drug flow into this country,
Florida ranks even worse in nearly every category of drug-related crime.

- -- Police grow over-aggressive.

The "war on drugs" has produced serious casualties in civil liberties.
Locally, Volusia County residents had to suffer through national
embarrassment as Sheriff Bob Vogel tested several means to "interdict" drug
traffic through Volusia County. One of the more notorious, the use of
race-based profiling to stop suspected drug couriers, was declared
unconstitutional.

There is a ray of hope on the horizon - and officials are starting to see
the light. In his official drug control strategy, Gov. Jeb Bush
concentrated on reducing the demand for drugs. He makes sense. Florida will
never be able to stop the supply.

Local officials are also evolving. State Attorney John Tanner has retreated
from an early, hard-nosed stance on drug use toward a model that encourages
treatment - a model that Vogel, incidentally, supports.

They're headed in the right direction, but good intentions aren't enough.
There are hundreds of thousands of addicted people in society, and precious
few treatment facilities. Volusia and Flagler counties have excellent
rehabilitation centers, but they can't handle the demand.

If the state is serious about its war on drugs, it must learn the lesson
that wasn't taught in the 1930s. Drug abuse can't be stopped by arrest; it
can't be kept out by prison bars. Until society is ready to decriminalize
drug use, meaningful, available treatment and community support are the
only real answers.