QUESTIONING STAR

To the Editor:

Bravo to legislator Tedra L. Cobb for wanting to measure the success
of the controversial Student Transition and Recovery program (STAR)
before the cash strapped tax payers foot the bill. There are
statistics on other programs where millions of tax dollars have been
spent without any positive results!

47.3 percent of 12th graders reported having used marijuana in 1975.
49 percent of 12th graders reported having used marijuana in 2001.
Billions of tax dollars have funded DARE for 20 years and the
percentage of adolescents experimenting with marijuana has held
steady. Yet every school will say it's the greatest program.
(Monitoringthefuture.org in school survey-samhsa.gov).

$3.5 million in drugs seized in St Lawrence in 2001 (12 March 2002).
The St. Lawrence Co. Drug Task Force has been in force for 13 years
and still millions of dollars of drugs are out there. Legislator Alex
A. MacKinnon states the DTF cost $180,000 a year (23 April 2003). I
think there is a little Enron book-cooking going on.

DTF, 7% of budget for 2002 (31 Oct 2001)? 2003 county budget is $147.7
million (8 Oct 2002). 7 percent of the 2003 county budget would be
$10.2 million for DTF.

The DTF is made up of the sheriff's department, Ogdensburg police,
Massena police, Canton police, Gouverneur police, Potsdam police, SUNY
Canton police, SUNY Potsdam police, and state police (12 March 2002).
They are often helped by the Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S. Marshal's,
U.S. Customs, U.S. Border Patrol, St. Regis Tribal Police, Malone
Village police, and Coast Guard (3 Feb 2003). Support also comes from
International Border Enforcement Team (IBET). That includes RCMP,
Canada Customs & Revenue Agency, Citizenship and Immigration Canada,
Ontario Provincial Police, Akwesasne Mohawk Police Services, Cornwall
Community Police Service, and Surete du Quebec (8 Dec 2002).

How many officers respond to a drug bust? "60 officers from several
agencies raid a home in St. Lawrence County" (24 Sept. 2001).
"Franklin County District Attorney Derek Champage praised the
cooperation between eight agencies involved in the (bust) operation at
an undisclosed location in Franklin County" (3 Feb 2003). If a cost
analysis was done $10.2 million maybe only a third of the cost!

Robbing, stealing, murdering, raping; those are all crimes. But drug
dealing is not really a crime, it is a business! A very profitable
business! What kind of a dent does $3.5 million make in a $57 Billion
a year business? None.

$10.2 million would put teachers, drivers' ed., marching band and
athletics back in all the schools in St. Lawrence County.

LARRY SEGUIN

Lisbon