The whole escalation of violence - cop on citizen and citizen on cop- has been escalated by the so-called"war on drugs." Back in the day, police were instructed to aggressively pursue drug "crimes." Authorities profited from this strategy, politically and economically (seizure law). This tough love approach has not worked for 60 years, maybe more. You can't help someone who doesn't want help (drug users and abusers). Consequently, whenever a cop draws a gun on a person holding a couple of grams of some outlawed substance, violence is possible. Stop this insanity. Take the money and flesh wasted on this useless "war" and put it into social help and education. We'll all be better off for it-especially the police. Kevin Campfield, Delray Beach [end]