Pubdate: Thu, 19 Oct 2000
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2000 The Dallas Morning News
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Author: Jason Lalancette

GOVERNMENT'S WAR ON DRUGS MUST BE CHECKED

I am writing to offer a counter to the blatantly self-interested Oct. 7 
Viewpoints article by Donnie Marshall, "Drug war requires dual attack."

It should be obvious by now that the DEA is an unaccountable agency of the 
U.S. government, which is totally interested in the continued prohibition 
of some drugs while remaining relatively silent on others. Many billions of 
dollars are spent chasing, prosecuting and incarcerating drug users and 
sellers, while the chief problems of prohibition remain: adulterated, 
expensive drugs, dead and diseased addicts, expanding crime syndicates 
(shouldn't this remind us of something?) and massive numbers of people, 
particularly blacks, in prison on silly charges less justifiable than those 
leveled at the Salem "witches."

It is time to start questioning the right of unaccountable bureaucracies to 
persecute and prosecute their citizens for victimless "crimes"; in 
particular, the draconian prohibition laws and political funding that allow 
these agencies to carry out their putrid wars.

JASON LALANCETTE, Saanich, British Columbia
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