WHO IS DANGEROUS?

Canton Legislator Peter FitzRandolph's remark earlier this week, asking
whether the alleged crack dealers, coke dealers and other drug dealers
arrested in recent weeks are "actually dangerous," raises questions of its
own. We like Mr. FitzRandolph, who usually is one of the county
legislature's more thoughtful representatives. But his comments did more
that raise a few eyebrows this week.

Mr. FitzRandolph might do well to spend a day at Rose Hill Drug Treatment
Center in Massena where he could talk to some of the 15 and 16 year old
addicts whose kidneys and other organs are already suffering the effects of
their addictions caused by the poisons sold to them by the people who Mr.
FitsRandolph thinks may be "technically" violating the law.

He might also want to visit the Massena state police substation where he
could examine the grenade launcher and silencers found in an arsenal seized
at the home of an accused drug dealer.

Mr. FitzRandolph appears to be suffering under the illussion that
St.Lawrence County's durg trade is controlled by the kind of idealistic
college kids he studied with back when he was in the college.

The drug trade has changed from the days when college kids sold a little
reefer to each other in their dorm room. The marijuana itself has undergone
dramatic changes in its THC levels thanks to the wonders of modern plant
breeding.

At $1000 a plant, marijuana has become big business.

And the growning popularity of cocaine and crack cocaine has already caused
its own share of problems.

As we've pointed out repeatedly over the past few years, nearly every armed
robbery committed in St.Lawrence County over the past several years has been
committed by people who were trying to raise money to finance their cocaine
habits.

Mr FitzRandolph should go ask a few store clerks who have had rifles and
shotguns stuck in their faces whether they think the dealers whose business
it is to addict their customers pose any "danger" to society.

As anyone in law enforcement could tell Mr. FitzRandolph if he bothered to
ask, most of the thefts from cars and many of the burglaries being committed
are the work of addicts who need money to finance their "technical"
violations of the law.

Most of the county's detectives could also advise Mr. FitzRandolph that a
growing number of gun thefts in St. Lawrence County are being committed by
addicts who trade the guns for drugs. That's a trend that even the most
obtuse politician ought to be worried about-drug dealers with assault
rifles, grenade launchers and silencers.

We don't wish to belabor our point here, but even politicians have a
responsibility to take a hard look at what's occurring in St.Lawrence
County's underworld of narcotics trafficking. It's fine for ReconsiDer and
other drug legalization groups to offer their opinions about the theoretical
benefits fo legalization in a Libertarian world. We can recall thinking the
same way back in the 1970's. But after the smoke clears, let's look at the
facts. Legalization of drugs means legalizing narcotics.

As any medical practitioner can tell you, most drugs are given under a
doctor's supervision for a simple reason. Used the wrong way, in the wrong
amounts, for any lenght of time, and they will cause a host of problems that
can range from addictions to organ damage and sometimes even death.
Legalization groups can make all the faulty comparisons they wish to make,
but the reality is simpple. A few recreational drinks a day won't kill you.
Prolonged use of many narcotics will.