MORE ON THE WAR ON DRUGS

I, too, was lucky enough to hear Ira Glasser's recent spirited address to
the Midcoast Forum on Foreign Relations on the subject of our
ill-considered War on Drugs. Ira made a few points that struck me as
fascinating, but which didn't get into Mac Deford's article ["Marijuana and
Prohibition," September 30, 2010]. Consider:

- - We're forever hearing about prominent crack or cocaine dealers busted,
but the enormous majority of arrests are not for hard drug offenses but for
simple nonviolent marijuana possession.

- - Though only 20 percent of marijuana users are black, more than 80 percent
of those convicted for nonviolent drug crimes (possession of small amounts
of marijuana) are black - that's a 1,600 percent racial bias in the way the
"crime" is prosecuted.

- - More than 80,000 Florida residents (the great majority of them black)
were excluded from voting in 2000 due to minor drug possession convictions.
No country but ours denies the vote to people convicted of nonviolent drug
offenses.

- - Use of soft drugs has gone down in Holland and Portugal, where marijuana
use is decriminalized.

Watch for rebroadcast of Mr. Glasser's talk on Maine Public Radio's
"Speaking in Maine" program. Or you can listen to it online at
http://midcoastforum.org by clicking on the Glasser link on the home page.

Tom DeMarco, Camden