Pubdate: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 Source: Houston Chronicle (TX) Page: 3C (op-ed page), LTE section Copyright: 1999 Houston Chronicle Contact: http://www.chron.com/ Forum: http://www.chron.com/content/hcitalk/index.html Author: John Wells, Houston `ANYTHING-GOES' DRUG WAR Our country is suffering from an epidemic of police brutality as a result of an "anything-goes" mentality caused by the war on drugs. We have a continuous erosion of civil liberties, as was illustrated in the Pedro Navarro Oregon case here in Houston, in which well-meaning police officers, with the implicit approval of their superiors and the district attorney's office, entered a residence without a warrant and shot Oregon multiple times in the back. Our state and federal prisons are full of young, nonviolent, low-level drug offenders serving long sentences at enormous (and growing) cost to taxpayers. As a result of the war on drugs, the American people -- and minorities in particular -- have increasing experience that many policemen are dangerously close to being part of the problem instead of the solution. When is this misguided war on drugs going to end? The solution should be public education and treatment on demand for addicts, rather than warrantless searches and continuous harassment of minorities by the police. John Wells, Houston - --- MAP posted-by: Rich O'Grady