Pubdate: Mon, 01 Apr 2013
Source: Daily Star, The (NY)
Copyright: 2013 The Daily Star
Contact:  http://www.thedailystar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/557

IT'S TIME FOR NEW SOLUTIONS TO DRUG USE

It's no secret that when it comes to the "war on drugs" first declared
by Richard Nixon 42 years ago, the good guys are losing.

It's no secret nationwide, and it's no secret here.

"The proliferation of illegal drugs upstate is "truly deplorable,"
Delaware County Sheriff Thomas E. Mills said in a media statement a
couple of weeks ago.

"Unfortunately, our rural communities have been exploited by dealers
from urban areas looking for a place to carry out their business,"
Mills wrote. "These individuals have taken advantage of our limited
law enforcement resources and set up shop, not just here, but
everywhere in the upstate region."

True, as far as it goes. There's no question that drug dealers from
New York City, Long Island and elsewhere infest our area with their
poison. We'd dearly love to blame our local drug problem on these evil
people, to find fault with anyone but ourselves.

"Men at some time are masters of their fates:

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves." With
apologies to Shakespeare, the fault for our drug situation is indeed
in ourselves. If there were not a ready market here for their vile
wares, the dealers wouldn't be making the three-or four-hour trips to
peddle their cocaine and heroin.

Law enforcement is working hard, but there's only so much the cops can
do. Arresting dealers is like the carnival game Whac-A-Mole. Smack one
down, and another pops up.

"... I guarantee you that the demand is still there, and where there's
demand, somebody is going to take that person's place," Otsego County
Sheriff Richard Devlin Jr. said.

"We do our part and combat (drugs) and make arrests and put it through
the court system, and inevitably, someone picks up where the last one
left off," Oneonta Police Chief Dennis Nayor said.

With limited resources and no indication that the illegal drug-using
population is going to decrease demand any time soon, it's time to
question why we arrest people for buying marijuana.

"I personally don't believe in (legalizing marijuana), but everything
has to be looked at," Devlin said. "Marijuana is not really the big
issue. It's the harder drugs."

Harvard economics professor Jeffrey Miron, a pro-legalization scholar
at the libertarian Cato Institute, was quoted in Politico about
possible tax revenues available from legal marijuana sales.

He estimated that nationwide, it would garner $6.4 billion in new tax
revenue - $4.3 billion for the federal government, and $2.1 billion
for the states.

We must certainly do a better job of educating our citizens,
particularly the young, about the dangers of drugs, but legalization
should be on the table, too. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D