TO THE EDITOR: THE NORTHFIELD NEWS

What do Howard Zinn, Milton Freidman, Noam Chomsky, and William F. Buckley Jr. have in common?

They all agree the prohibition on all drugs should be lifted.

This past December was the 75th anniversary of the repeal of alcohol prohibition. Legislators did not repeal prohibition in the '30s because they suddenly decided alcohol was safe. They did it because it made economic sense in the midst of the Great Depression, and they were tired of a violent gangster black market. Prohibition did not make sense then, and it does not make sense now.

So far this year, the federal, state, and local governments have spent nearly $12 billion on the "War on Drugs." In 1914, the Harrison Act was passed to try to control opiate and cocaine use. The percentage of Americans that partook in 1910s was about 1.3%. In the early '70s, Nixon had renewed zeal on this issue, and declared a "War on Drugs." The percentage of Americans that partook in 1969 was about 1.3%. Today, 30 years later, guess what the percentage of use is in America? About 1.3%. The "War on Drugs" is a failed attempt at controlling the drug problem. While laws have gotten stricter, use has remained stagnant. America has sunk over $1 trillion on a war that is showing no signs of achieving its purpose.

Arguments against legalization of drugs are just not persuasive when broken down. The most common argument is that if drugs are legal, more people will become users. However, criminalization of drugs does not stifle their use and abuse. Think back to high school; it was way harder to get alcohol than to get a dime bag. A recent poll asked over 1,000 voters if they would use cocaine or heroin if they were legalized, and 99% said NO, citing health reasons, not legal reasons, for their decision. Legalization of drugs is not a promotion of the product. It simply recognizes that prohibition does nothing to help those who are actually suffering.

Another popular argument against legalization is that crime and violence will go up if drugs are legalized. Anyone who embraces this argument is ignoring the violence and despair that is currently underway among the underground black market. In Mexico, over 6,000 people were killed last year as a result of the cartel drug war ravaging Juarez, Tijuana, and other parts of the country. Another estimated 1,000 have been killed this year. American drug prohibition gives these cartels a direct market for their product. Legalizing drugs would not immediately stop cartel violence, but it would allow for domestic production which would cut demand for the cartels' product. America is funding and arming this drug war. We need to take responsibility by revisiting our failed and draconian policies.

Prohibition takes control out of the hands of the government and puts it into the hands of the black market. Right now, the cartels control price, production, purity, and supply, and are making enormous untaxed profits. The Mexican government's mostwanted cartel leader made the Forbes Billionaire list for 2009. While these cartels are profiting, countless American citizens are suffering under a policy that treats drug addiction as a criminal problem instead of a health problem. Users are thrown in jail, where access to drugs is rampant, instead of receiving treatment. On the street, addicts have no access to clean needles, so they share. Purity of drugs is not regulated, so those who partake are in danger of receiving hazardous cocktails of substances. When the supply of cocaine became harder to get, dealers began cooking their own uppers. Crystal meth can be made anywhere with ingredients available over the counter at drug stores. It is significantly more detrimental to a user's health than a pure, natural-base upper like cocaine, but it's cheaper and more widely available.

This policy also disproportionately affects minorities. The US imprisons nearly a million people for non-violent drug offenses. Blacks make up 13% of drug users, but nearly ? of drug-related prisoners. In the '90s, Texas built 1 university and 77 prisons. About 3x as many Blacks and Hispanics are in jail as are in college. Private prisons, which stand to make higher profits the more prisoners they "service," actually hire lobbyists to fight FOR mandatory minimum drug sentencing for non-violent offenders. Do you see something wrong with this?

There will always be fiends looking for their next fix. No amount of regulation can stay ahead of the wily criminal. If you take down one drug kingpin, another takes his place. If you throw money into a program to control the flow of one drug, new designer drugs emerge. The White House's response to the despair in Mexico focuses on the wrong part of the problem by putting a band-aid on a gaping head wound. The government is now funneling another $700 million to the area to try to control the flow of drugs, guns, and cash across the border. How did the cartels in Mexico respond to more pressure from the Mexican government and police? They started executing them and their families. Throwing money and resources at the problem does not work.

There is no honest and intelligent debate in Washington about an overhaul of policy on this issue, and there seems to be an unwritten policy actively discouraging any such debate. In January, members of Federal and Texas State Congresses threatened the El Paso City Council with loss of federal funding if they continued to push a resolution which simply called for a national debate on drug legalization. The council members passed this resolution by a unanimous vote, which was squashed by a Mayoral veto. These threats came in anticipation of the council's vote to override this veto. As a result, the resolution did not pass. Further, during the President's online Town Hall Meeting March 26th, the President took a question on legalization and laughed it off! That question was one of the most popular with over 3 million votes of support from the public, and the President would not even dignify it with a serious answer.

This is the wrong attitude to take! This issue reaches across economic, health, and social issues and should be intertwined among the policy discussions taking place in Washington and within the states. If Obama really intends to overhaul our government and cut wasteful spending, this failed "war" should be one of the first to get the ax. Addicts are treated like criminals and do not get the help they need. No one is safer, the drug flow has not been stifled, and users are ODing on the street because of lack of education, health programs, and government control over supply and purity. Something is wrong with our country if a person could legally obtain an AK-47, but not legally smoke pot to reduce the nausea resulting from the chemotherapy they have to endure. We cannot afford to put this issue on the back burner. Billions of dollars and millions of lives are being thrown away. Like Europe's 30 Years' war, this war is being fought without a clear goal or directive, and it seems that this government has forgotten why we started it in the first place. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. The mistakes made involving alcohol 75 years ago are being repeated today on a much grander scale.

The Vermont Law School (VLS) chapter of the National Lawyers' Guild (NLG) is hosting a panel comprised of members of "Law Enforcement Against Prohibition" (LEAP). LEAP was founded as an outlet for law enforcement officials (detectives, judges, D.A.s, officers, DEA officials, etc) who were on the frontlines of the "war on drugs" throughout their careers. The panel will consist of two speakers. Jack Cole, a retired 26-year veteran of the NJ police force, spent 12 years working undercover in narcotics investigations. He is also one of the founders of LEAP, and is the executive director. Jack is convinced that "this is not a war on drugs, it is a war on people," and believes the drug war is "steeped in racism." Tim Datig is a retired 28 year veteran of law enforcement. He worked in Manhattan, NY and throughout Vermont. He believes that the "gift" we give cartels of "some $500 billion in untaxed cash… allows them to adapt to each new strategy of law enforcement in the War on Drugs." He believes that re-legalization will lead to healthier, more educated communities, and will free up time and resources for law enforcement to handle real criminal issues. This panel will speak at the Solutions Conference at VLS April 3rd from 4-5:30p in the Chase Center. LAURA CEVA South Royalton