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WAR ON DRUGS JUST GOT HARDER

Now everyone knows about Tulia, Texas.  But how the Swisher County seat made national headlines and TV morning shows isn't how most residents intended to promote their city. 

Last week, a dozen people were released from prison -- some had served up to four years behind bars -- after being corralled in a 1999 drug operation.  Of 46 people netted in the sting, 39 were black.  The racial element played a large part in media interest and the activities of civil rights groups and attorneys. 

The Tulia story underscores the difficulty of bringing drugmakers, drug dealers and those who abuse drugs to justice.  Following the law to the letter while also going to war against some of the most ruthless and thoughtless people in our communities is a difficult task.  Perhaps impossible. 

Those in law enforcement have given up trying to eradicate the problem.  Their job, they say, is to keep it in check. 

Whether you want to hear it or not, drug-related offenses top the list of Panhandle crimes.  Here in this spacious, conservative, flag-waving, church-going, sports-loving countryside, drugs are making the same kind of negative impact they are in urban and suburban areas -- the same places that new residents are trying to escape from and longtime residents have vowed never to live. 

It's no wonder that law officers asked no, begged people to elect tough-on-crime public officials, from district attorneys to state legislators.  This is no time, they argue, to give more ground to criminals. 

The undercover officer at the center of the Tulia case was known to crowd that paper-thin line between right and wrong in doing his job.  The final verdict was that, in this case, he crossed the legal line.  It's a tough call because, recalling the old schoolyard dig, it takes one to know one. 

To take down lawbreakers, deputies, police, narcotics officers and others in law enforcement must be able to seize the upper hand.  It's not always a case of outsmarting the crooks but overpowering them. 

The Tulia case has crippled the county in many ways, from spending a huge quantity of money to making it even more difficult to administer equitable law and order. 

Yet, is it better to err on the side of protecting our Constitutional and civil rights? Yes. 

But the jury is out on what the future holds for Tulia and towns like Tulia where law enforcement just got harder to administer.