Pubdate: Sat, 10 Nov 2001
Source: Standard-Examiner (UT)
Copyright: 2001 Ogden Publishing Corporation
Contact:  http://www.standard.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/421
Author: Mike Plylar

FOCUS ON DRUG WAR HAS BEEN TOO EXCESSIVE

The author of the Nov. 4 letter, "Drug policy needs to be revisited," is 
right on the money, but I think he misses some other serious problems with 
our current law enforcement dictated drug policy.

In light of America's latest war, a closer examination of our foreign and 
domestic policies is overdue.

Can we afford the luxury of an excessive, deadly and disastrous civil war, 
like the war on drugs, which devours fully 50 percent of all our law 
enforcement resources, while terrorists, wishing Americans the gravest of 
harm, live, move and train right here among us?

Are our national priorities skewed? Ask any postal worker: If the white 
powder leaking from an envelope turns out to be cocaine, instead of some 
truly lethal biological agent, would they feel relieved? In their 
situation, how would you feel? Thank God it"s only cocaine.

While Americans have chased each other for decades, dedicating phenomenal 
amounts of our national assets, searching for all manner of illegal plants, 
pills, powders and the like, our real enemies have literally invaded us. We 
all continue to pay the price for our government's drug war blunder.

Mike Plylar Kremmling, Colo.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom