Resources Finally Shifting Away From Drug War PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE DrugSense FOCUS Alert #221 Thursday October 11, 2001 In the wake of terror attacks in the United States, it would have made sense to immediately divert all resources supporting the failed policy of drug prohibition elsewhere. Sadly, that hasn't happened yet. But, some government agencies are finally acknowledging the obvious, as the New York Times reports this week. US Customs Agents have shifted their main focus away from drugs and toward preventing terror. We should all be grateful for that, but there are plenty of other government resources that are still being wasted on the drug war that could be used much more wisely elsewhere. And, the body of evidence suggesting that drug prohibition itself is beneficial to terrorists continues to grow (see http://www.narcoterror.org for more details). Please write a letter to the NY Times to say that people are capable of protecting themselves from drugs - what we really need is protection from the drug war and other real threats around the world. PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID (Letter, Phone, fax etc.) Please post a copy your letter or report your action to the sent letter list () if you are subscribed, or by E-mailing a copy directly to Your letter will then be forwarded to the list with so others can learn from your efforts and be motivated to follow suit. To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm and/or http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form This is VERY IMPORTANT as it is one very effective way of gauging our impact and effectiveness. Contact Info: Source: New York Times (NY) Contact: ARTICLE Pubdate: Wed, 10 Oct 2001 Source: New York Times (NY) Section: National Copyright: 2001 The New York Times Company Contact: Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298 Author: Robert Pear and Philip Shenon Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?203 (Terrorism) THE BORDERS: CUSTOMS SWITCHES PRIORITY FROM DRUGS TO TERRORISM WASHINGTON -- The new head of the United States Customs Service said today that terrorism has replaced drug smuggling as the agency's top priority, and that he has redeployed hundreds of agents to provide round-the-clock inspections at the Canadian border to prevent terrorists from entering the country. Robert C. Bonner, who was sworn in as customs commissioner just two weeks ago, said he had begun receiving daily intelligence briefings on terrorist threats as part of his agency's shifting mission. As a result of the redeployments along the Canadian border, a preferred entryway for terrorists in the past, Mr. Bonner said the agency has had to cut the number of inspectors dedicated to special units that search for illegal drugs and for exports of high-technology products. The alert has been raised along the border with Mexico too, but the Customs Service had already increased its presence there in recent years. "Terrorism is our highest priority, bar none," said Mr. Bonner, a former federal judge who has also served as the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration. "Ninety-eight percent of my attention as commissioner of customs has been devoted to that one issue." The terrorist attacks have brought about sharp changes at several other federal agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Public Health Service and the Internal Revenue Service. But apart from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, few agencies have so prominent a front-line role to play as the Customs Service, which is responsible for guarding the borders and blocking the entry of terrorists and their tools. The service is given credit for thwarting a major terrorist attack on the eve of the millennium celebration in December 1999, when a customs inspector in Washington State found a trunkload of explosives in the car of an Algerian who later acknowledged having trained at terrorist camps in Afghanistan run by Osama bin Laden. The attacks on Sept. 11 also physically hammered the Customs Service, since the north tower of the World Trade Center fell onto the eight-story building, 6 World Trade Center, that housed its New York office. That building was destroyed, and 760 workers were displaced. In an interview today, Mr. Bonner acknowledged that the agency's traditional role in preventing the smuggling of drugs and other contraband would be affected by the new focus on terrorism. "We are robbing Peter to pay Paul," he said, noting that inspectors had been working 12 to 16 hours a day since Sept. 11. "We are stretched thin." Since the attacks, the service has spent $5.5 million a week on overtime for inspectors, almost three times its usual outlay. Mr. Bonner said that small customs posts along the northern border, which have gone unstaffed at night and on some holidays, are now being manned every day around the clock by at least two inspectors. Customs agents, he said, are being told to be especially vigilant for any "implements of terrorism," like chemical, biological or nuclear materials that could be used as weapons. Many agents are being ordered to wear pocket-sized radiation detectors -- miniature Geiger counters -- as they carry out their inspections at airports and borders. The shift in focus has startled many longtime customs officers like Harold H. Zagar, the chief customs inspector at Dulles International Airport, in the Virginia suburbs of Washington. "For 31 years," he said, "I've been fighting the war on drugs." Now, suddenly, drug trafficking is a distant, secondary priority. To say the change is disorienting understates the case. "Whoa!" Mr. Zagar said. "We've gone full circle." The Customs Service is the nation's oldest law enforcement agency, founded in 1789, and the change in its mission is a jolt to almost every one of its 10,600 inspectors and criminal investigators. Before Sept. 11, customs officials at Dulles and other airports had developed sophisticated profiles of likely drug smugglers and searched luggage for hidden narcotics. Now, Mr. Zagar said, inspectors are much more interested in documents -- blueprints, drawings, photographs, flight manuals, chemical data -- that might be carried by terrorists. The need to set new profiles for terrorists could be controversial for the service. In recent years, blacks sued the agency, saying they had been singled out for interrogation and searches because of their race. The agency promised not to engage in racial profiling. Now, though, inspectors are scrambling to develop profiles of travelers from the Middle East who might have links to terrorist groups like Al Qaeda, Mr. bin Laden's far-flung network. The agency said the new "targeting criteria" would focus on passengers arriving on certain flights from certain countries, especially from the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. Other agencies are also telling their employees to put aside regular duties and focus on terrorist threats. The Agriculture Department is directing its inspectors to prevent attacks on crops and livestock and other types of "agroterrorism." The new administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Asa Hutchinson, said he saw a "deadly, symbiotic relationship between the illicit drug trade and international terrorism." He estimated that Afghanistan produces at least 70 percent of the world's supply of illicit opium, and he said that the Taliban leadership derive large amounts of revenue from the traffic. "The sanctuary enjoyed by bin Laden is based on the existence of the Taliban's support for the drug trade," Mr. Hutchinson said in Congressional testimony last week. Bradley A. Buckles, director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said that 500 of his 2,300 agents are working with the F.B.I. to investigate the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Similarly, the I.R.S. has ordered some of its criminal investigators to work with other agencies to determine how terrorist groups are financed. The I.R.S. is focusing on money laundering and possible currency violations. SAMPLE LETTER To the editor of the New York Times: I was happy to read that US Customs agents are now finally shifting their focus from drugs to terror ("The Borders: Customs Switches Priority from Drugs to Terrorism," Oct. 10). It's a tragedy it didn't happen years ago. A look at the broader picture shows any resources going toward the drug war would be better used elsewhere. We've been fighting a drug war for decades and all we've got to show for it is official corruption and overcrowded prisons. Thugs both here and abroad take advantage of the immense profit opportunities in the black market for illegal drugs to enhance their power and capabilities. Even the riskier drugs don't attack without warning. People who are harmed by drugs almost always made the decision to take those drugs. Everyone wants our country to be safer. Ending the drug war would be a positive step in that direction. Stephen Young contact info IMPORTANT: Always include your address and telephone number Please note: If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify it at least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous copies of the same letter and so that the original author receives credit for his/her work. TARGET ANALYSIS - New York Times With a circulation of 1.2 million weekdays - 3 million readers (and about 50% more for the Sunday edition), from all over the US outside the NYC market area - and an audience of which 3/4ths have a college degree, this newspaper is an important target for Letters to the Editor. Our analysis of several published letters at http://www.mapinc.org/mapcgi/ltedex.pl?SOURCE=New+York+Times indicates a strong preference for printing short letters. The average published letter is only 113 words long, with a range from 45 to 143 words. The New York Times is one of the most widely read and influential newspapers in the country A published letter of only 2 column inches (about 80 words) printed in this paper has an equivalent advertising as if you bought a $1,440 advertisement on behalf of reform and had it published in the NY TImes. Please note that the New York Times limits letters to 150 words. ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing efforts Letter Writers Resources: http://www.mapinc.org/resource/ TO SUBSCRIBE, DONATE, VOLUNTEER TO HELP, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL SEE http://www.drugsense.org/hurry.htm TO UNSUBSCRIBE SEE http://www.drugsense.org/unsub.htm Prepared by Stephen Young - http://www.maximizingharm.com Focus Alert Specialist

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