Pubdate: Wed, 08 Mar 2000 Source: Los Angeles Times (CA) Copyright: 2000 Los Angeles Times Contact: Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053 Fax: (213) 237-4712 Website: http://www.latimes.com/ Forum: http://www.latimes.com/home/discuss/ Author: Gerald M. Sutliff, Emeryville, CA Note: Title assigned by Newshawk POLICE ABUSE AND AUTHORITY Thoughtful and worrisome words by Walter Prince (Commentary, March 2) about the several options available to L.A. as the city faces the upcoming Rampart litigation. [L.A. should] end its own version of the failed and hideously expensive war on drugs. The city has no obligation to enforce federal laws. The war on drugs is one of the root causes of the runaway scandal; for another, consider racism. The O.J. Simpson jury tried to tell L.A. that it had a problem but nobody listened. But then so did the Kerner Commission, circa the late 1960s. GERALD M. SUTLIFF Emeryville, Calif. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart