WAR ON DRUGS A WASTE OF MONEY

Editor,

Thanks for publishing Bradley Fehr's story, 'Nine found guilty of
trafficking in hashish(20 Apr 2004).

This is yet another example of the compounded injustices created by
governments who enforce the dysfuntional ideals brought about by
prohibition.

The gentlemen involved in this were nothing more than businessmen
supplying a demand...a demand that has not, to this date, taken a
single life. The only true danger, or crime, represented in what these
men were trying to accomplish is the potential results that might
occur when governments fail to act responsibly in regulating a market
thus knowingly creating a black market. If cannabis were legal these
gentlemen would also very likely have paid a healthy tax on their
product and been part of a thriving business.

Also what underscores the actual danger, or lack thereof, is the fact
that not only was no one actually harmed in this business, but also
the fact that the governments allowed this to go on for 20 months. Let
me reiterate: The entire time this operation was being run, no one was
injured or killed.

That's an awful waste of taxpayer resources. Speaking of which, let's
stop to consider how many agents and paid informants were on the case
from its inception to end. Just how much money was wasted on
(over)building a case against people who were doing nothing other than
keeping a demand supplied? The drug war is one of the grandest
infringements on civil rights and must come to a halt!

Eric Knudsen

St. Louis Park, Minnesota