Pubdate: Sun, 10 Jun 2001 Source: Detroit Free Press (MI) Copyright: 2001 Detroit Free Press Contact: http://www.mapinc.org/media/125 Website: http://www.freep.com/ Author: Debra S. Wright Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n919/a06.html Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange) A FAILED WAR ON DRUGS Thank you for printing the editorial on Plan Colombia, which is an extension and escalation of a failed policy. I recently attended a presentation in Detroit by two Colombian nationals. They talked about the devastation that Plan Colombia is having on their environment, economy and culture. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced, cattle are being sprayed and killed, and food crops are also being sprayed, leaving minimal food in some villages. The impact on their country and people is enormous. And as long as there is a demand for drugs, there will be a supply. Our drug war has failed -- not only Plan Colombia, but also the war here at home. We have over 2 million people incarcerated in this country, many of them African Americans and Latinos, with entire communities supported by the prisons built in them. The enforcement of our drug laws are racist. HIV/AIDS is spreading in our neighborhoods. We tell addicts to use clean syringes, yet there are paraphernalia laws on the books that can convict a person for carrying syringes. We have unprecedented mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses that leave no discretion to the courts. The entire system has failed. As a nation, we need to begin looking to some sensible alternatives. Debra S. Wright, Ann Arbor - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk