Pubdate: Thu, 05 Jul 2001 Source: Watertown Daily Times (NY) Copyright: 2001 Watertown Daily Times Contact: http://www.wdt.net Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/792 Author: Andy Maslin IS THE WAR ON DRUGS SOLVING THE PROBLEM? We certainly have a worthy cause, but are we going about it in the right way? I personally abstain from the use of alcohol, drugs and tobacco, but as I have observed the war against drugs and some people involved with it on both sides of the law, these are some questions I have. Can you see some similarities between the war in Vietnam and our war against drugs? Have we educated ourselves about the truth concerning the drugs, why we're fighting it in the fashion we are? Are we really winning or just creating jobs? If we are not winning, why aren't we? Isn't there more violence now than when we started, much of it caused by our method of fighting the problem? Who and where are the heroes? Isn't the main soldier in the war the informant? Can he really be a hero? If not,why not? Isn't it also true that some people who hold honorable jobs, ones that we should respect, such as law officers, lawyers, judges, secretaries, clerks, etc., have turned to dishonorable means to win? If you have to lie, cheat, misuse your authority to win, is it right? Does the end really justify the means? When integrity is laid aside, shouldn't we consider why? Did prohibition solve our problems with alcohol? Would you say there's less violence in the way we're fighting it now than the way we fought it then? Doesn't a black-market product in big demand create high prices and subsequently violence? Is our prohibition-style war against drugs solving our problem or creating more? Couldn't the enormous amount of money we're spending be applied more effectively? Why is alcohol legal and marijuana illegal? Which substance has the greater history of family abuse, death, accidents, violence and hardship? Is filling out jails and building new ones for nonviolent offenders our best answer? What happened to the idea of leaders at all levels being examples, education our youth to the truth and rehabilitation for those who need help? Couldn't we with the intelligence and modern means the good lord gave us come up with some alternatives? We have many years of hindsight to help educate us and answer these questions. The results of the test should prove the good and the bad of the theory. Andy Maslin Chase Mills, New York - --- MAP posted-by: GD