Pubdate: Sun, 11 Dec 2005
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Page: B06
Copyright: 2005 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Howard J. Wooldridge
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1921/a07.html

DRUG LAWS DON'T WORK

As a police detective in Michigan, I was fully aware of the problems
that the Prince George's County police face ["Bullets Keep Flying,"
editorial, Dec. 7]. I learned that drug laws generated about 75
percent of my caseload and that nonviolent felonies often were not
investigated because of lack of time. Switzerland has cut its felony
crime in half by having the state regulate and sell heroin to addicts
in a government program. What part of drug prohibition is making
Prince George's County a safer place to live? Will we ever be as wise
as our grandparents and end drug prohibition?

Howard J. Wooldridge

Frederick

The writer is a director of Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake