THE UNWINNABLE WAR

The questionable judgment on the part of the Dallas police officers who
paid out $200,000 to a confidential informant accused of purchasing fake
drugs should serve as a wake-up call [Texas Monthly Reporter: "Snow Job,"
April 2002]. The combination of informants culled form the criminal
underworld and zealous drug warriors anxious to increase arrest stats is
dangerous. Regardless of whether the defendant is actually guilty, the
informant profits

if a conviction is made. This practice lends itself to entrapment and
dishonest testimony. Notorious informant Andrew Chambers, whose promises to
unsuspecting citizens of obscene amounts of cash for (presumably real)
drugs earned him $2.2 million, courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer, was
ultimately found to have routinely committed perjury. In an age when
Americans are using more prescription drugs than ever, including blatantly
recreational drugs like Viagra, the war on some drugs threatens the
integrity of the criminal justice system.

Robert Sharpe. Program Officer

Drug Policy Alliance

Washington, D.C.

"SNOW JOB" puts a spotlight on a Criminal 'justice system that has evoked
into a monster grotesquely distorted by the war on drugs.

Our minimum-sentencing laws have filled our prisons with hundreds of
thousands of nonviolent offenders, living without hope because parole is
not available.

Law enforcement officers have resorted to "testi-lying," implicating a
defendant in court when evidence is, well, lacking.

Good federal judges have declined to hear drug cases, specifically because
they are opposed to the war on drugs.

One million people are arrested each year on drug charges, and we spend
billions each year to support the war on drugs.

This is a jihad.

Thomas Sowell once said, "The difference between a crusade and a policy is
that the policy is judged on its efficacy while the crusade, well, the
crusade is judged by how good it makes the crusaders feel."

So crusade on, drug warriors, at least until the likes of the Dallas Police
Department snare your kid too.

MIKE SMITHSON

Syracuse, New York