DRUGS AND CRIME, VIEWED FROM BEHIND BARS

In the past few weeks, this column has put the spotlight on crime and
violence in our city, probably serving up more crime statistics than you
cared to swallow. Along the way there was a story about a shooting victim's
frustrating experience with the D.C. police. And two weeks ago, a uniformed
police officer weighed in with his take on street violence, community
attitudes and the lack of top-brass support for cops on the front lines.

Now it's time to bring on an individual without whom a discussion of crime
would not be possible: the perpetrator, or "perp" as some call him. His
name is Chris.

Have no fear. You're not about to encounter Chris anytime soon. He's also
known as #014105 at his current place of residence: the Montgomery County
Detention Center, where he's doing time for bank robbery.

Chris is well qualified to share his views on crime in the nation's
capital. He was a D.C. heroin addict for 17 years, gaining loads of
experience on the street and in local jails. And he also knows firsthand
about the impact of crime on the local economy, having made a considerable
contribution to the problem himself.

With time now on his hands, Chris has given some thought to the possible
underlying cause of most of the criminal activity described in these
columns. "It is drugs, but not in the way most of [you] think," he says.

Using the county detention center as a point of reference, Chris said that
"of the 700 I'm in jail with right now, there are perhaps 150 stone
sociopaths, hard-core criminals, mentally ill vagabonds, various sex
perverts and others that this argument doesn't apply to. But of the
remaining 550 -- those with burglaries, thefts, fraud and robberies -- none
of us, or virtually none, committed the offense because we were high on
drugs. We may have been on drugs during the offense, but that is not the
reason for the crime."

Wasting no time, Chris went right to it: "The reason, for most of us was
the same -- to obtain money to buy more drugs -- a fine, but crucial and
profound distinction."

"Getting high -- that is the goal," he declared. Crime was a necessary evil
toward that end. "If none of us had needed money for drugs, there would
have been no burglary, theft or robbery."

As for the impact of his criminal activity on local business, Chris ran
some numbers:

"Let me use myself as a real-life example. I am your run-of-the-mill,
typical user in terms of crime." In 1988, Chris needed $100 a day on
average to feed his heroin habit. "So, for 365 days, I shoplifted books and
sold them to used-book stores. Typically, I got 10 cents on the retail
dollar. So I had to steal $1,000 worth of books [retail] a day to get $100
in cash."

The impact? "If the retail outlet was on a 10 percent net profit margin
they would have to sell $10,000 worth of books to make up for the $1,000
worth of books I walked out with -- that's one day. Now multiply that by
365 days and we get $3.65 million gross financial damage [to bookstores]
for one year, caused by one addict" he said.

The District has more than 60,000 substance abusers, some violent, most
nonviolent. Many of them roam the streets daily in search of ways to feed
their habits. Now, does that give you a clue as to what's fueling many of
the thefts, burglaries and car break-ins afflicting our city?

Talk of criminals whacked-out on drugs is not hyperbole. Look no farther
than the D.C. Pretrial Services Agency, which tracks drug use among adult
arrestees. In March, the latest month for which numbers are available, 46
percent of 1,572 adult arrestees screened for drugs tested positive for at
least one drug -- cocaine, PCP, or opiates. That drug test result has been
fairly constant for a number of years.

Need another indication of drug users on the prowl? Check out the number of
thefts from automobiles in the District -- cars being easy and lucrative
targets because of their radios, compact discs, speakers and tags that can
be quickly snatched and sold on the streets for cash. Cars are ripped off
- -- not stolen -- across the length and breadth of this city practically
every hour of every day. And that's not counting all the burglaries, thefts
and armed robberies that occurred from morning to night.

The cost of crime to innocent victims and the city is staggering.

In the case of crime-committing drug addicts, Chris advocates making drugs
such as heroin and cocaine very inexpensive, and widely available, over the
counter in pharmacies at the equivalent price of cheap alcohol. "Ever hear
of a wino sticking someone up?" he asks. "They are annoying and killing
themselves, but they aren't dangerous," he says.

Chris contends that users enjoying access to cheap drugs won't need to
steal, are less likely to overdose, because purities would be known and
would have no need for drug dealers. With the gun-drug culture gone,
seniors would no longer fear catching stray drug-dealer bullets.
Shoplifting, thefts, burglaries and robberies would decline. "The tradeoff
in public safety," he asserts, "would be worth it."

I disagree. Cheap drugs would encourage drug use. That sends the wrong
message. We have enough problems with alcohol and tobacco -- why add more
to the steadily rising social and financial costs of addiction?

In this city, we have preteens running around with drugs in their systems,
parents high on drugs abandoning their children and too wigged out to work.
I say not only no, Chris, but hell no.

True we can't arrest and incarcerate our way out of this mess. But we can
do more to prevent and treat the kind of drug abuse that is fueling so much
crime and heartbreak in our city.

And on that score, we have flopped.

City leaders are huffing and puffing over tax cuts, parking fines and
whether or not the mayor threw himself a party with nonprofit funds. But
ask them about funding support for addiction prevention and recovery and
you'll learn that the mayor's administration proposed to spend $1.5 million
less on the program this year.

Now look in on our civic leadership -- the public office holders,
preachers, business, labor and community leaders. See how many of them even
permit the word "drugs" to pass their lips from the podium, the pulpit, or
during their lah-di-dah dinner parties.

As for the rest of us good burghers, we tolerate a school system that turns
out kids who can't read well enough to hold down a decent job, and then
avert our gaze as they become the next generation of dealers, hustlers and
occupants of Oak Hill, the D.C. Jail or the city morgue. We say hardly a
peep about young girls, rushed into motherhood and maternity wards, giving
birth to drug-addicted babies -- our next generation of the learning-disabled.

We lock our doors, shake our heads in disgust and wonder why in the world
"those people" don't straighten out their lives.

And then have another glass of wine.

(P.S.: After 18 months in jail, Chris is off to a 2 1/2-year drug program
in Texas. "I can't change the law, so I've got to change myself," he said.
"Not everyone gets the chance.")