END DRUG WAR

In response to "Drug units notch 500 arrests" Jan. 25, if the drug war
was working then arrests should be going down to the point of
nonexistence because no one would be selling or using drugs. But,
every year there are more arrests and more drugs, which is a pretty
clear indication that drug prohibition has failed and will continue to
fail.

I'd like to ask readers to name one stated objective of the drug war
that has been achieved in the 70+ years that we have had drug
prohibition.

Has locking up adults who use responsibly kept kids or other adults
from smoking pot or using harder drugs?

Has the flow of drugs into our country been reduced or eliminated
altogether?

Are drugs harder for children to get?

Has the purity of drugs decreased?

Has the spread of disease from sharing dirty needles been
eliminated?

Has prison worked as a cure for drug addiction?

How much can police forces and drug task forces really want to wipe
out drugs when their livelihoods depend on the continued existence of
drugs?

Drugs will never be eliminated from our societies. Never in history
has prohibition worked. Drug use and addiction are health and social
issues that should not be addressed from a criminal justice
perspective. We have more than 30,000 people in the Alabama prison
system built for 12,000. Thirty percent of inmates are there for drug
related offenses. Fifty percent of all drug arrests in Alabama are for
simple possession of marijuana for personal use. The drug war has
turned our police forces into militarized SWAT teams with automatic
weapons and flash bang grenades and it has destroyed our Constitution.
Yet it has done nothing to stop people from using drugs.

It's time to end the drug war, which is really a war on American
people.

Loretta Nall

Executive Director Alabamians for Compassionate Care

Alexander City