TOUGH ENFORCEMENT SUCCEEDS:

Record Shows That Drug Legalization Is No Solution

The myth of the drug-legalization argument is that government
distribution/regulation of drugs would remove the profit, and therefore the
incentive, for illicit drug-dealing and drug-related crime.

But the reality of drug legalization can be witnessed by any American
tourist on the streets of a working-class neighborhood in southern
Amster-dam. In that typical Netherlands neighborhood, residents weave on
and off crowded sidewalks, trying to avoid making eye contact with dealers
who openly push heroin, marijuana, and crack. In news reports and
interviews, hard-working area residents blame the legalization of drugs for
bringing more drug dealers, more petty criminals, and more drug use to
their neighborhood.

Twenty-five years ago police departments in the United States regarded drug
use as a victimless crime affecting only the user. Vice enforcement treated
drug crimes in the same manner as prostitution and gambling. Today
law-enforcement officials understand that drug use and drug distribution
are crimes with an untold number of victims. Society, as well as the drug
user, suffers both physically and economically. The U.S. system of uniform
crime reporting reveals that between 75 percent and 80 percent of all crime
is drug-related or has a drug nexus.

Drug-Related Crimes Legalization and government distribution/regulation do
not stop the profits for illegal drug dealers. If we examine the basic
economics of drug trafficking, we can understand what the people of
Amsterdam are living with.

In a typical drug-producing country a kilogram (1,000 grams) of heroin
sells for about $1,000. That same kilogram is then sold to wholesale
dealers in the United States for between $85,000 and $100,000. In Richmond
a street dose (1/8 gram or an "egg") of heroin sells for $25. Thus a street
dealer in Richmond can make $200,000 per kilogram. Once the dealer pays his
cost of $85,000 to $100,000, he will realize a profit of 100 percent or
more per kilogram..

The government of a country with legalized drugs has to sell heroin for no
less than $20 per street dose, to cover the pharmaceutical manufacturer's
production costs. The government has to deliver a consistently safe
strength per dose, and therefore it cannot purchase drugs as an illegal
drug trafficker can. Meanwhile, the drug dealer who purchases his drugs
from illicit sources that operate with no quality controls or safety
standards can cut his price to $15 per street dose, underselling the
government and realizing a smaller profit. He still makes money and the
addicts purchase cheaper, and, in many instances, more potent heroin from
the street dealers.

The attitude implicit in a culture of drug use and acceptance in the
Netherlands has played an important role in its becoming the world's top
supplier of Ecstasy. Legalization has produced a drug-addicted population
that has crippled the economy. In the summer of 2002, the legislature of
the Netherlands reversed two decades of legalized drugs by passing laws to
recriminalize drug distribution and use in order to protect its citizenry.

Current Approaches Work The current approach in our country of tough drug
laws, coupled with effective education programs and compassionate
treatment, is producing success. It is a myth that there has been no
progress in our anti-drug efforts. Overall drug use in the U.S. has dropped
by more than one-third since the late 1970s. That means 9.5 million fewer
people are using illegal drugs. During the past 15 years cocaine use has
plummeted by an astounding 70 percent.

There is still more to do. Drugs remain readily available, and a recent
household survey on drug abuse revealed that an increasing number of
American children are experimenting with designer drugs such as Ecstasy. As
long as we have despair, poverty, frustration, and teenage rebellion, we're
going to have problems with drugs. We must remember that our methods are
achieving success. Less than 5 percent of the population - or 16 million
people - regularly uses illegal drugs.

Emerging drug threats such as Ecstasy and methamphetamine will require even
more resolve and innovation. We need a renewed dedication by all Americans
to help our children stay away from the misery and addiction of drugs.
Innovative approaches to address the problem include drug courts, community
coalitions such as the Richmond Drug Free Alliance, more investment in
education, more effective treatment, drug-testing in the workplace, and
drug counselors in schools. These ideas work. What doesn't work is
legalization.

Alaska Tried Legalization It's a well-kept secret that legalization has
been tried before in this country. In 1975, Alaska's Supreme Court held
that under its state constitution an adult could possess marijuana for
personal consumption in the home. However, in a 1988 study, the University
of Alaska found that the state's teens used marijuana at more than twice
the national average for their age group. In 1990, Alaska's residents, fed
up with the dangerous experiment of legalization, voted to recriminalize
possession of marijuana.

Legalization was not the answer for the Netherlands or for Alaska - nor is
it for the rest of America. Legalizing drugs is simply surrendering. It's
giving up on the hope that future generations will be drug-free and
abandoning those people in the grip of addiction. Isn't every life worth
fighting for?

Joe Dombroski, a Richmond-area enforcement supervisor for the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration, is a 2003 Commentary Columnist.