SENSELESS DRUG WAR

The police officer who wrote the Nov. 30 letter "Narcotic cases" attempted
to defend the indefensible: a never ending war on some politically selected
drugs. He is technically correct that few drug offenders in Michigan are
sentenced to prison for simple possession of drugs. That's because the
overwhelming majority are warehoused in local lock-ups.

Year in, year out, tens of thousands of Michigan citizens are arrested for
simple possession of marijuana. Every one of those arrests will cost
taxpayers thousands of dollars through lost hours of police time, clogged
court dockets and overcrowded county and city jails as the arrestees await
trial. Michigan's version of the drug war is costing tens of millions of
dollars and yielding zero net results.

The officer stated that drugs have been directly linked to violent criminal
behavior, to most crimes of theft, and to the destruction of many families.
Yet even the most cursory review of police blotters reveals that alcohol
far and away drives more crime than all illicit drugs put together. And the
deleterious effects on families of alcohol abuse have been known for
centuries. So why don't we go back to alcohol prohibition? Maybe because we
tried it and it didn't work.

I understand that continuing the Drug War Inc. is in the police officer's
economic self-interest. Does he understand that replacing it with sane and
workable polices is in the economic interest of the rest of us?

Greg Francisco,

Educators of Sensible Drug Policies, Paw Paw