MAYOR'S DRUG WAR DILEMMA

Dear Editor,

A drug house can destroy a neighborhood. It is occupied by criminals
and frequented by criminals. Drug dealers are not concerned with how
young their customers are. And because drug dealers operate outside of
the law, disputes are often settled with violence.

As Mayor, it is my duty to do everything possible to rid our city of
this menace. We have been quite successful in Bellflower. With
increased patrols, an active neighborhood watch program and a
dedicated deputy district attorney, we have run hoards of drug dealers
out of town. Yet the drugs are still being sold somewhere. I am sure
that when a drug dealer is run out of town, they do not change their
occupation along with their address. Usually this means that somewhere
there will be another neighborhood that is going to be put in peril by
these criminals.

Recently, Bellflower had a meth lab in a house filled with kitty
litter to hide the odor of the chemicals used to process the
methamphetamine. Although the kitty litter hid the odor, it did not
decrease the volatility of the chemicals that put the
surrounding neighbors at risk. The volatile process of producing
methamphetamine would be much safer in a laboratory run by a skilled
chemist than by a drug addict in the garage next door.

As in every city, we have numerous outlets selling legal drugs. Drug
stores, liquor stores, bars and grocery stores all sell drugs with
relatively few problems.

The most common justification for our drug laws is that the government
needs to protect those who may want to abuse drugs. I believe it is
time we concentrate on protecting the vast majority of people who are
drug-free rather on the minority who has a propensity to abuse drugs.

In my lifetime I have not seen any success in drug laws reducing the
use of illegal drugs. The distribution of illegal drugs, which is free
of taxation and regulation, seems to be as efficient as many legal
products.

Until the time this nation changes its drug policy, local elected
officials will be forced into moving the drug problem from
neighborhood to neighborhood. Just hope that your neighborhood is not
the next victim of the war on drugs.

Sincerely, Mayor Art Olivier