RE: Letter from Emile Therien (March 2). An interesting concept was broached, namely the idea that legalizing drugs would succeed in eliminating gang violence where the war on drugs has not. First and foremost, that would make a massive assumption that current gang members would suddenly turn from a life of crime to legitimate enterprise. Well, what do you really think the odds of that are? There is also the fallacy that legalizing drugs would remove the black market for them. We already know that as long as any "recreational" substance is under regulation it will be taxed. [continues 173 words]
While the country is absorbed in the possibility of going to war against Iraq, Tuscaloosa has been fighting its own war lately - a war on drugs. Drug trafficking has increased more each year in Tuscaloosa - but so has the power of the law enforcement that fights against it. The West Alabama Narcotics Task Force, the main vehicle for policing drugs in Tuscaloosa County, has had a record year in productivity. The force made 1,254 drug-related arrests and dispensed 1,507 drug charges from those arrests in 2002. [continues 708 words]