WE'RE LOSING A WAR OF CHOICE

No facts to back drug opinion There is no evidence to support R. Gil
Kerlikowske opinion that "more [legal] drugs, at lower cost, would
increase U.S. drug demand." Folks in the Netherlands use marijuana --
it is de facto legal there -- at less than half the rate of Americans.
They use cocaine and heroin even less than that. In fact, crime, drug
use by teenagers, HIV, overdoses and heroin use all declined after
Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001. The money the Portuguese
are saving on law enforcement is used for education and medical
treatment. Prohibition supports despicable people who sell drugs to
children, recruit them to sell to their peers and arm them to kill the
competition. Across America and around the globe, paramilitary drug
raids trigger violence rather than lessen the risk. It is overkill to
use such force on a nonviolent health issue. Unconscionable bloodshed
is on the hands of the leadership, as much as on those who pulled the
trigger or did the actual butchering and torturing. The wasted
resources and the destruction of lives and families will continue as
usual unless we change to a community-based policy using science-based
education and treatment, a safer drug policy for the user and society.

Colleen McCool, Stephenville