Pubdate: Sun, 13 Nov 2005
Source: San Antonio Express-News (TX)
Copyright: 2005 San Antonio Express-News
Contact:  http://www.mysanantonio.com/expressnews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/384
Author: Don Henry Ford Jr.
Note: Don Henry Ford Jr. is author of "Contrabando: Confessions of a
Drug-smuggling Texas Cowboy."
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

TO SNUFF THE WEED, KILL THE ROOT

A couple of weeks ago during the Texas Book Festival in Austin, I was
on a panel when an explosive issue rarely voiced in such a setting was
raised.

The subject of the debate: drugs and violence on the Mexican border.
As a former marijuana addict and smuggler, this is a topic I know
something about.

But it was Charles Bowden, author of "A Shadow in the
City: Confessions of an Undercover Drug Warrior," who
introduced the idea of legalizing drugs.

Former Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson ("One Ranger: A
Memoir") countered, describing how more than 35 years
as a peace officer leads him to believe this would be a
mistake. Then he went on to say that he did not have a
solution to the problem.

They both were right, and they both are wrong.

I can tell you with confidence that Bowden is aware that what he
advocates will not happen. He assumes his role as an extremist in
hopes that sane voices in the middle will arrive at a viable solution,
much like Stokely Carmichael of Black Panther fame made Martin Luther
King Jr., a revolutionary in his own right, seem a more acceptable and
moderate voice in the debate over race issues.

Continuing to conduct business as usual has a proven track record of
failure in the war on drugs.

But complete and total legalization of all drugs would create anarchy.
Usage would increase. Think of all the physicians without a job.
Bowden knows this. And, of course, so does Jackson. It would, however,
without doubt, kill the illegitimate business of drug
trafficking.

I can almost feel the collective fear among law enforcement officials
as they contemplate legalization -- cops, prison guards, border
agents, judges and lawyers imagining the business that supports them
and their towns suddenly gone. Followed by the collective sighs that
drug traffickers, cops and politicians in Mexico expel as they imagine
at least 40 percent of their economy erased with the fall of a hammer.

Jackson is right. You cannot allow injectable forms of drugs such as
heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine to be sold indiscriminately to the
public. Some people are predisposed to become addicted to these
substances and will use them until they die, given the
opportunity.

So, here's some middle ground.

In a land that allows the consumption of alcohol and tobacco,
marijuana should be legalized and controlled along the lines of the
way we now deal with these substances. Less concentrated forms of
other drugs, like coca leaf tea, could also be decriminalized. Perhaps
we should allow addicts to register in programs where they can get,
from doctors, a drug like heroin in a safe, oral form of known and
consistent dosage and quality.

Certainly, we must come to grips with the fact that at the root of the
drug business are the money that Americans are willing to spend
getting the drug of their choice and the addictions that drive them to
spend this money.

Want to kill the weed? Kill the root and the top will die as
well.

Our present plan of law enforcement stresses only the supply portion
of the equation. Never is a dealer asked whom he sells to; it is only
he who has the supply that is of interest. By tracking supply lines
down the chain as well as up them, users can be identified.

Obviously, they can't all be locked away in prison. Why should we want
to, anyway? These people we fear are our own citizens -- our brothers,
sisters, children, parents and neighbors. Most are decent people,
aside from their addiction. Once identified, they should be treated as
people with an illness, not as criminals. Some, perhaps most, will get
over their addiction with proper help and counseling, and they will
stop spending their money on drugs.

Driving over the speed limit is illegal, but we don't throw an
offender in jail unless he endangers the lives of others. Fines and
loss of driver's licenses and other privileges are used to force
people to comply or face constant harassment. This is the approach we
should take with people using drugs. Face these sanctions or enroll in
treatment programs.

For those who continue to sell hard drugs, prison will remain a
necessary evil. However, the excessive sentences now required are not
effective. Prisons serve as training grounds; criminals enter as
novices and are released as seasoned professionals.

I suggest shorter but tougher sentences spent in isolation cells for
first-time drug offenders and any others deemed salvageable. I can
tell you from experience that 30 days in the hole is more effective
than years spent in the relative comfort of an open prison population.
After such a sentence, close monitoring will ensure compliance, or
it's back to the hole for a longer stay.

It's time to face the facts. The way we fight this thing we call the
war on drugs is not working. There are better ways to deal with those
who abuse drugs.

For he who has ears, let him hear.

- - Don Henry Ford Jr. is author of "Contrabando:
Confessions of a Drug-smuggling Texas Cowboy."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin