Pubdate: Sun, 15 May 2005 Source: Monitor, The (McAllen, TX) Copyright: 2005 The Monitor Contact: http://www.themonitor.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1250 Author: Ed Townsend DRUG WAR IS JUST LAW ENFORCEMENT To the editor: Mr. Jose Melendez made the point that since alcohol and nicotine are legal yet dangerous, cocaine, marijuana, and heroin should also be legal ("Drug war works -- for criminals," May 8). Mr. Melendez theorized that this double standard is part of a conspiracy to help certain industries profit. However, comparing cigarettes to heroin or beer to cocaine is like comparing a firecracker to a hand grenade. Both are dangerous, but one is a tad more destructive. Mr. Celerino Castillo ("Past 35 years show drug war will never be won," May 1) stated that education and treatment were the solution to the problem (Mr. Castillo also made unsubstantiated allegations of massive and widespread corruption). While education and treatment are important, a couple of things seem to have eluded Mr. Castillo. First, they are already part of the U.S. drug policy. Second, they have their limitations. When a gang of drug dealers takes over a neighborhood, I don't think the answer is to have honest citizens approach the thugs and say, "Excuse me, but could you go get treatment and stop terrorizing us?" I don't have any brilliant solutions, but I think it is wise to keep things in perspective. For example, I often hear people criticize the government for spending hundreds of millions of tax dollars incarcerating drug traffickers. How about placing the blame on the convicts who felt that the law didn't apply to them? Also, in my opinion, police officers and federal agents aren't really fighting a war on drugs. That's just a catchy and somewhat unfortunate term politicians developed. What they are really doing is enforcing the law. That has its limitations, but it needs to be done. Ed Townsend McAllen - --- MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman