END DESTRUCTIVE, COSTLY WAR ON DRUGS

After three decades of fueling our nation's War on Drugs with more
than half a trillion tax dollars and increasingly punitive policies,
it is time to declare that we have lost the war.

Today, the court system is choked with drug prosecutions. Our prison
population has quadrupled and made building prisons our
fastest-growing industry; 2.2 million people currently are
incarcerated, and another 1.6 million are arrested annually for
nonviolent drug violations -- more per capita than any other country
in the world. Meanwhile, drug barons grow richer every year,
terrorists amass fortunes from drug sales, and citizens continue dying
on the streets.

The final result of this terrible war is that illicit drugs are more
accessible, cheaper and more potent today than they were 33 years ago,
when I, as an undercover narcotics agent, first started buying heroin
on the streets. This represents the very definition of a failed public
policy.

Will Rogers said, "If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to
do is stop digging." When a policy has failed so miserably over such a
long period, it is time to stop digging and find alternative strategies.

We must end this destructive and costly war, and the drug-prohibition
philosophy it is based upon.

During alcohol's Prohibition at the beginning of the 20th century, the
United States had the highest rate of murder as well as corruption of
public officials in its history -- until now. We have surpassed those
figures in the current war on drugs.

We also are needlessly destroying the lives of America's youths. How
many young people do you know who have used an illegal drug but have
gone on to lead productive lives? With imprisonment, that possibility
is eliminated. Moreover, with the economy foundering and states
registering deficit spending, the United States can no longer afford
this war, which is estimated to cost $69 billion a year.

Ending drug prohibition is not a decision I came to lightly. Rather, I
made it after 26 years in law enforcement -- 14 as an undercover
narcotics agent. I am not alone in this view. I have been joined by
increasing numbers of current and former members of law enforcement
and informed citizens who believe the cure is worse than the disease.

In 2002, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition was founded. Its
respected board of directors is composed of current and former judges,
police officers and a former governor. Its primary mission is to
educate the public about the futility of an effort that has become not
a war on drugs but a war on people. Society must develop a more humane
and effective public policy on this issue.