Pubdate: Mon, 24 Jun 2002
Source: Miami Herald (FL)
Copyright: 2002 The Miami Herald
Contact:  http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/262
Author: ROBERT SHARPE

DRUGS, CRIME PROHIBITION-RELATED

IN RESPONSE

Re the June 20 article Graft inquiry targets pair of officers: The crimes 
allegedly committed by Opa-locka police officers Robert Kukowinski and 
William Booker bring to mind the Los Angeles Police Department scandal that 
involved anti-drug officers selling drugs and framing gang members. This 
form of institutional corruption stretches from coast to coast and reaches 
the highest levels.

Entire countries have been corrupted by the drug trade. It's no coincidence 
that Colombians began emigrating to Miami in droves immediately after the 
U.S. government started pouring billions into the drug war. Limiting supply 
while demand remains constant increases the profitability of trafficking.

Drug-related crime is prohibition-related. With alcohol-prohibition 
repealed, liquor bootleggers no longer gun each other down, nor do 
consumers go blind drinking bathtub gin. While U.S. politicians ignore the 
precedent, European countries are embracing harm reduction, a public-health 
alternative based on the idea that both drug use and prohibition can cause 
harm.

Examples of harm reduction include needle exchanges to stop the spread of 
HIV, and marijuana regulation aimed at separating the hard- and soft-drug 
markets.

Unfortunately, fear of appearing soft on crime compels politicians to 
support a failed drug war that only subsidizes organized crime.

ROBERT SHARPE

Program Officer
Drug Policy Alliance
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart