Pubdate: Fri, 02 May 2014
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2014 The Dallas Morning News, Inc.
Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/send-a-letter/
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117
Author: Robert Sheaks

DRUG WAR AFFECTS EVERYONE

Biesel's letter on drug enforcement is not irrational. Abraham 
Lincoln is said to have remarked that the best way to get rid of a 
bad law is to enforce it vigorously.

One must disagree, however, with placing blame for the damage done by 
the drug trade solely on drug users. Since it is the illegality of 
the trade that makes it so toxic, one must recognize that we the 
people also have a responsibility for the drug war's damage.

The beginnings of the drug war are to be found in periods of economic 
stress and nativist reaction, and the disparate impacts of drug law 
enforcement to this day have been described as the New Jim Crow.

The president's initiative to pardon the (yes) victims of Draconian 
sentences for nonviolent drug offenses is a step in the right 
direction, but it is not a substitute for protecting we the people 
from unregulated drug production and distribution. Ms. Biesel's 
letter is a promising sign that the conversation about this topic has 
already begun.

Robert Sheaks, Irving

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