TO WIN THE DRUG WAR, WE MUST FIGHT THE BATTLES

Choice 1: Step up enforcement to do the job: The nation's war on drugs
already has reduced casual drug use by 53 percent since 1979. Now is not
the time to second-guess success, but rather to redouble our efforts to
keep drugs out of the country and out of our homes, schools, workplaces and
neighborhoods.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
When Edmund Burke said that in the mid-18th century, he was not talking
about drug policy, but he could have been. A serious effort to curb the
problematic use of drugs in our society cannot ignore the importance of the
law enforcement effort. Retreating from the "war on drugs" will only allow
the evil to succeed.

The Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General has taken a three-pronged
approach to the drug problem in Pennsylvania. Attorney General Mike Fisher
has often said that we must fight the drug problem from both the supply and
demand sides. Enforcement efforts must be combined with treatment and
anti-drug education that involves the family, the community, schools,
church and government.

We must not, however, begin the new millennium by reducing the law
enforcement approach to fund these other applications. Those who say that
we can have only one or the other -- that is, enforcement or prevention
through education and treatment -- present us with a false dichotomy.

In the 1980s, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, overall drug use dropped by about 50 percent. This decrease was a
result of increased committed funding to law enforcement and a
zero-tolerance approach to drug trafficking and use. While we must deal
with the demand side of the equation, the suppliers and purveyors of the
poison infecting neighborhoods, schools and homes must be dealt with
severely. Current levels of enforcement and community anti-drug campaigns
need to be increased.

On the international level, the United States should increase efforts to
cooperate with other countries' anti-drug efforts. Additionally, the United
States should demand that other countries actively address their drug
problems and the exportation of illicit drugs. This means getting tough
with nations that tacitly allow the drug industry to flourish within their
borders.

We also need to continue our efforts at interdiction of the constant flow
of drugs into the United States. In Pennsylvania, interdiction at bus
depots, airports and train stations has resulted in significant seizures of
cocaine, heroin, marijuana and other illegal drugs. Law enforcement agents
have seized hundreds of thousands of dollars en route to source cities for
the purchase of more drugs. These interdiction efforts are largely
successful not only because they result in prosecution of dealers and
couriers of drugs, but because large quantities of drugs seized never make
it to our streets for resale. While this means spending for more police on
the streets and building more prisons, the costs are well worth the results
we have seen.

Other successful efforts undertaken in Pennsylvania include investigation
of drug dealers at all levels. The attorney general's Task Force Program
has provided incentive by offering funding to attack local drug problems.
Hundreds of street-level arrests in small towns, boroughs and cities have
taken on the drug dealers at their front door. Agents from the attorney
general's office continue to pursue arrests of mid- and upper-level
dealers. These investigations target organized crime and "kingpins" who
attempt to keep their hands clean from the taint of street-level dealing.
Although costly, the results, which place dealers in prison and provide
cleaner, safer streets and a reassured citizenry, support that cost.

Other effective approaches to fighting the war on drugs include lengthy
mandatory sentences for dealers and forfeiture of their profits. These
seizures and sentences deter the dealer by showing that crime does not pay.
Additionally, seized assets are returned to law enforcement to help fund
anti-drug efforts.

Communities and businesses also can get involved by taking action that
promotes a zero-tolerance approach to the use and sale of drugs.
Government's enforcement actions can remove the dealer, but it will be the
efforts of parents, employers, schools and community activists that will
reduce the demand.

We will be victorious in the war on drugs only if we are serious about
fighting it. The history of wars fought by Americans demonstrates that when
we commit the necessary resources to do the job, we will overcome any
enemy. The United States spends a minor portion of its budget on drug
control. This allotment includes treatment, education, law enforcement and
international anti-drug activities. Compared with the costs of other major
U.S. initiatives and the cost of drug abuse, this spending is minuscule.
Any effort to reduce the outlays for enforcement will only increase the
availability of drugs that need to be combated through more education and
treatment programs.

Experience has shown us that legal drugs, such as alcohol and tobacco, have
related costs, including health, treatment and education, that are almost
overwhelming. Recent increases in drug abuse by younger members of society
would suggest that any reduction in law enforcement efforts dealing with
the supply of illegal drugs is irresponsible. Treatment and education alone
are insufficient to attack the problem.

Responsible policy-makers will recognize the significant impact
zero-tolerance efforts had in the '80s and will continue to get into the
fray to reduce the availability of drugs at all levels of our society.

We must be willing to provide funding and commit our resources to fight the
battles. Then, and only then, will we win the war.

© 1998 Centre Daily Times