Pubdate: Thu, 20 Feb 2003 Source: Salina Journal, The (KS) Copyright: 2003 -- The Salina Journal Contact: http://www.saljournal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1752 Author: Tom Bell, Editor & Publisher CONSIDER FRESH IDEAS ON DRUGS THE ISSUE Drugs THE ARGUMENT Tough laws encourage home meth labs Hazardous chemicals. Explosive gasses. Toxic fumes that kill instantly. Why would anyone want to work in such an environment, producing an illegal substance that brings long prison sentences? The answers are simple: Greed and addiction, two powerful attractions that draw folks into the manufacture and sale of methamphetamines. An example of that power was displayed on the front page of Friday's Journal. Reporter Sharon Montague told how a traffic stop resulted in the discovery of a meth lab that officials say is the largest of its type ever found in Kansas. Police say the lab fills the basement of a home at 902 E. Elm. It is equipped with sophisticated equipment, including security cameras, motion detectors and a ventilation system that prevents neighbors from noticing the noxious odors produced while cooking meth. Quite an investment. But one that pays off handsomely, thanks to the highly addictive nature of meth. The chemical grips users with such power they will do anything, and pay any amount, in order to get the next fix. Police link local burglaries and armed robberies with addicts supporting meth habits that cost hundreds of dollars each day. On one hand, we applaud local law enforcement officials who risk their lives ridding neighborhoods of this scourge. But on the other, we wonder about the consequence of tough drug laws that exact high punishments for the manufacture and sale of certain drugs. Those statutes drive up drug prices and provide profit motive for a criminal element drawn to drug manufacturing. Some assert that all sorts of crime -- from petty theft to murder -- would decrease if drugs were decriminalized and the profit motive removed. That is especially true in big cities, where gangs battle over boundaries in the most profitable, drug-infested neighborhoods. Could decriminalization actually reduce violent crime? Possibly. But we may never know, thanks to blind rejection of any proposal that appears to go soft on drugs. Attempts to fund federal research on decriminalization are rejected out of hand. Instead, officials with the Justice Department, under orders from Attorney General John Ashcroft, are more likely to raid California clinics and arrest a few cancer victims who smoke marijuana to relieve symptoms. California voters approved medicinal marijuana, but it runs contrary to federal law. Let's support local law enforcement officials who serve and protect our community. But at the same time, let's explore other solutions to this country's drug problems, including the notion of decriminalization. - -- Tom Bell Editor & Publisher - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom