Pubdate: Thu, 16 Nov 2000 Source: Houston Chronicle (TX) Copyright: 2000 Houston Chronicle Contact: Viewpoints Editor, P.O. Box 4260 Houston, Texas 77210-4260 Fax: (713) 220-3575 Website: http://www.chron.com/ Forum: http://www.chron.com/content/hcitalk/index.html Author: Thom Marshall ON FRONT LINES OF THE DRUG WAR Knowing of his interest in drug-war issues, John Morgan's daughter in League City sometimes clips this edge of the page to send him. Morgan lives in Ohio. He retired a half-dozen years ago after working almost three decades as a DEA agent. Recently he e-mailed a contribution to our ongoing debate and discussion about criminal-justice issues. First, he provided a thumbnail resume: "I was hired as a Bureau of Drug Abuse Control (which preceded the DEA) agent in 1967 in Los Angeles. I worked mostly in California, Florida, Ohio, New England, Texas, Oklahoma and Washington, D.C.," he said. "My last assignment, at retirement, was supervising the Northern Ohio State and Local Drug Task Force." His career included undercover work, conducting and supervising investigations of clandestine labs and smuggling and the diversion of legally manufactured drugs. He also spoke often to schools, churches and civic groups as part of his agency's demand reduction and prevention efforts. Earning his credentials "My background and involvement in the high-risk, hands-on segment of our so-called drug war, coupled with my age (63), give me some credentials to speak knowledgeably on the subject," he said. Morgan believes the drug war can be won. However, he said some of his ideas about what it will take to win it are 180 degrees from "positions held dear by many of my former colleagues in law enforcement." One example: "We must create a real drug prevention and education program. Scrap DARE. Get the police out of it. It sends the wrong message to children - -- cops and drugs. Drug prevention is the job of parents primarily, with help from educators and health professionals -- not the police!" Another example: "Some serious thought must also be given to legalization. Most of our problem drugs were legal prior to 1921." Remember where this man is coming from, what he has done, what he has seen, who he has known ... . "By 1973, those of us on the front lines of what was being called the drug war had already seen action," he said. "We all had been friendly with or knew, or saw a fellow drug-war soldier killed or seriously injured in the line of duty. Today, more than 30 years after its creation, the drug war goes on -- one of the longest wars in our nation's history." And one that has grown, and grown, and grown. Morgan said that when he began his career there were just a few hundred agents fighting drugs. Now, he pointed out, the DEA has about 4,500 agents, the FBI also is involved in the war, as well as several other federal agencies, state and local police, and the military. "Why then, are we not winning?" he asks. "Demand is part of the reason," he answers. "Demand and its enormous associated profits drive the trade. If there were no demand, the drug profiteers would create one in the same ways marketers of legal products create demand." The rest of the reason The rest of the reason we aren't winning involves a lack of will and conscience that is national in scope, he said: "If we, as Americans, ever get past our inability to look reality in the eye, a tendency that took root and grew during the Vietnam era, we would realize we all contribute to the problem." He said he has just begun writing a book about the drug war and hopes that by including his adventures as a working agent and supervisor, the book and his views will find a wider audience than many of the academic volumes he has encountered in his research. "We can win this war," he said. "We just have to be flexible in our thinking and want to win." Morgan may have something. His way, our drug warriors won't have to admit defeat and retreat from the drug war. We just turn the battle plan away from guns and prisons, use legalization as a tactic, focus on education, enlist doctors and parents and teachers to lead the charge. Some of us have been thinking that these measures should replace the drug war. Morgan is saying they are the way to make winning it possible. His terminology doubtless will be more palatable to his former colleagues. And as long as the results are the same. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk