WAR ON DRUGS

When Will We Admit We Can't Win?

America's longest war has been its war on drugs - we've been in the same
entrenched foxhole since the Nixon administration, and yet we as a people
never seem to change tactics or admit defeat. As The Gazette rightly
pointed out, seizing the property of alleged drug traffickers is just
another example of our willingness to overlook the principles of democracy
in favor of an expeditious solution to a perceived danger ("Spoils of
war/Crackdown on drug trade has proven all too lucrative for law
enforcement," our View, March 20). But let's take that argument one step
further.

The main reason drug dealing exists is because we've created a favorable
economic incentive for dealers. Scarcity of domestic sources of drugs and
the risks of trafficking in drugs drives up the price, causing users to pay
high prices for a fix. The consequences are property crime as addicts rob
and steal and violent crime as dealers fight over markets. It's time we
acknowledge and recognize these facts, and address them sensibly and in a
cost-effective manner. It's time we legalize drugs and control them.

Our government certainly doesn't worry about addiction to tobacco and
alcohol, why should it concern itself with other drugs?

Gavin Ehringer

Colorado Springs