NO ONE REALLY BELIEVES DRUG WAR CAN BE WON

This is in regards to the article, "Authorities Say I-90 Becoming
West-To-East Drug Corridor" (Press & Dakotan, Feb. 4).

Truth to tell, the drug warrior police, politicians, officials, media and
civilians (secretly) don't list victory as an objective in their expensive
and oppressive trillion dollar war. When they do spout their "zero
tolerance/total victory" rhetoric, how many of your readers actually
believe them? How many actually believe that this year's multi-billion
dollar drug war budget will be the one that will achieve total victory
after decades of billion dollar budgets have totally failed?

Just remember that the drug czars' and warriors' jobs depend on the
perpetual prosecution of, but NEVER a victory in, the drug war. Also,
remember that the politicians depend on the drug war and its rhetoric to
scare up votes (by scaring voters). The politicians also rely on the drug
war to sustain their constituent industries and institutions that depend on
the economics of prohibition in order to make generous profits and campaign
contributions that keep the drug warrior politicians in power and,
therefore, keep themselves in business.

Remember what H.L. Mencken said: "The whole aim of practical politics is to
keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by
menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."

Maybe the corrupt politicians and media are required to adhere to the party
line of prohibition because law enforcement, customs, the prison and
military industrial complex, the drug testing industry, the "drug
treatment" industry, the INS, the CIA, the FBI, the DEA, the politicians
themselves, et. al., can't live without the budget justification, not to
mention the invisible profits, bribery, corruption and forfeiture benefits
that prohibition affords them. The drug war also promotes, justifies and
perpetuates racist enforcement policies and is diminishing many freedoms
and liberties that are supposed to be inalienable according to the
Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Myron Von Hollingsworth, Fort Worth, Texas