LEGALIZE DRUGS, ELIMINATE DEALER

First published in print: Sunday, June 20, 2010 John Monte (letter,
June 16) claims that he can't get an answer to his question of what is
the treatment for a drug dealer. I have an answer:
legalization.

If drugs were legalized, taxed and regulated, the black market where
drug dealers operate would be eliminated. Unfortunately, so would Mr.
Monte's police career of arresting and filling our jails with
low-level drug dealers.

Maybe he can explain how these drug dealers are so quickly replaced
when he puts one of them away.

Mr. Monte also makes the mistake of lumping real victims of crime --
murder, robbery and rape -- with drug addicts who are not victims.
They willingly chose to participate in these consensual crimes.

Despite 40 years of waging a war on drugs, hard drugs have increased
in purity, decreased in price and filled our prisons with nonviolent
offenders. It's a failed and stupid policy as three national research
groups have stated.

When we ask law enforcement to protect us from ourselves, there are
all kinds of unintended consequences, such as the drug-related crime
that plagues our communities, the enormous profits for drug cartels
and the corruption of law enforcement.

How can Mr. Monte support a policy that creates all of these serious
problems?

William Aiken

Schenectady

Member, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition