Pubdate: Mon, 15 Nov 1999
Date: 11/15/1999
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Author: Christopher Ganiere

Drug use is up. Drug-related crime is up. Prison populations are up.
Civil rights are down. I challenge the drug warriors to point at a
single success.

All their successes look like failure to me. Imagine how many millions
of man-hours could be used for other criminal investigations or
community policing, if the narcotics department were looking after
other matters.

Imagine the drug trade being regulated by pharmacies and doctors, not
gangs and pushers.

Imagine a 50-cent tax on a day's use of heroin, cocaine and pot, not
cigarettes.

Christopher Ganiere,
Costa Mesa