Pubdate: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 Source: New Mexican, The (Santa Fe, NM) Copyright: 2008 The Santa Fe New Mexican Contact: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/SendLetter/ Website: http://www.santafenewmexican.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/695 Author: Mike Jones BURGLARIES AND DRUGS A recent editorial posited that, to reduce burglaries, it was necessary to focus on drug trafficking until legalization impacted that issue. I was struck by the cogent recognition that legalization of drugs would end much of the crime associated with illegal dealing. Assigning the resources needed for the burglary problem to drug trafficking must assume that targeting dealers leads to no supply, so users stop breaking into homes to get the money to buy drugs. Recent history demonstrates that our country has been unable to eliminate illegal drugs, so how is the Santa Fe Police Department going to succeed where the U.S. government has not? Unless narcs arrest burglars, the problem won't be improved by beefing up the drug unit. Assign resources to burglaries. Call on lawmakers to dramatically reduce crime by legalizing, regulating, taxing and distributing drugs. Learn more at Law Enforcement Against Prohibition at www.leap.cc/ Mike Jones Ranchos de Taos