WAR ON DRUGS A JOKE

Did I detect a little humor in the Aug. 5 article "Schumer Unveils
Three-Part Plan For Nipping Meth Problem In The Bud"?

Could it be a reporter from the Watertown Daily Times is starting to
see the joke on the taxpayers the war on drugs has become. Senator
Schumer said at Thursday's press conference "it took 15 years to get
the crack problem in hand". He doesn't want the same thing with
crystal meth. What has worked stopping the use of crack-cocaine?

In Watertown, blocks from where Mr. Schumer spoke. A raid confiscated
40 bags of crack. The same day there is a statement from drug czar
John Walters in Santa Marta, Colombia. Mr. Walters conceded that
seizing cocaine, destroying coca crops and locking up drug traffickers
in Colombia has had little impact on the flow of cocaine on U.S. streets.

The day after Mr. Schumer's press conference another narcotics round
up in Lake Placid. If that's called "nipping the bud of crack",
imagine what "nipping the bud of meth" will be.

Is more law enforcement the answer? We have local drug task force.
State task force. Federal task force. Narcotics task forces. High
impact crime and drug task forces, and more task forces than I can put
in this letter. On top of all the drug task force duplication, every
citizen is an eye for law enforcement. What more resources are needed,
how much more can the taxpayer afford?

Harsh prison sentences haven't worked. Forfeiture hasn't been a
deterrent. Drug testing is useless. DARE's a waste of time. Anti-drug
ads are ignored. Drug courts are full of non-abusers. Maybe its time
our government "nips a bud." Then smokes it.

Larry Seguin

Lisbon