Pubdate: Tue, 26 Dec 2000 Source: Clarion-Ledger, The (MS) Copyright: 2000 The Clarion-Ledger Address: P.O. Box 40 Jackson, MS 39205-0400 Fax: (601) 961-7211 Feedback: http://www.clarionledger.com/about/letters.html Website: http://www.clarionledger.com/ Author: Robert Sharpe, M.P.A. Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1894/a04.html WAR ON DRUGS JUST FUELS MORE CRIME Mississippi's new drug strategy ("State's strategy on drugs lauded," Dec. 18) touted by Steven W. Casteel, the Drug Enforcement Administration's chief of intelligence, sounds no different from the failed strategy of the past. As usual, drug-related violence is used to justify increased spending, this time in the form of High Intensity Drug Trafficking areas. When supply of addictive drugs is successfully limited by interdiction while demand remains constant, drug trafficking becomes more profitable. The obscene profits to be made guarantee replacement dealers. In the short-term, drug prices are higher, which means desperate addicts increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. Those who get caught are placed in prisons that serve to transmit violent habits and values rather than reduce them. Just as alcohol prohibition once did, the drug war effectively fuels crime, while failing miserably at preventing use. With organized crime comes corruption, and Americans are not immune. The former commander of U.S. anti-drug operations in Colombia was found guilty of laundering the profits of his wife's heroin smuggling operation. Entire countries have been destabilized due to the corrupting influence of organized crime groups that profit from drug prohibition. Drug laws fuel organized crime and violence, which is then used to justify increased drug war spending. It's time to end this madness and start treating all substance abuse -- legal or otherwise -- as the public health problem it is. Robert Sharpe, M.P.A. Program Officer The Lindesmith Center - Drug Policy Foundation, Washington, D.C. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk