... but I was directly involved in the war on drugs from 1976 when I became a deputy district attorney in Orange County CA (a position I held for ten years, including stints as the juvenile court prosecutor, gang detail liaison, career criminal panel and special prosecutions unit) until I left criminal practice in 1996 after having spent another ten years doing criminal defense and appeals (in addition to other areas of practice).

The only way to eliminate drugs abuse as a potential problem is genetic engineering which changes the basic physiology of the human being. I'm not sure we want government getting into that ... no, I'm sure we DON'T want government getting into that.

We have poured billions of dollars and endless man hours into the current war on drugs and the problem is worse now than it was when I became a prosecutor almost 25 years ago. We have far more people in jail and prison, much more draconian laws and much longer sentences. The drug lords are much richer and much more powerful than ever. Street crime has escalated dramatically (mostly to obtain drugs, obtain money to buy drugs or "turf wars" over the sale of drugs).

Why? Because as illegal substances they are (ARTIFICIALLY) worth 10 to 100 times more than they would be worth if they were legal. Follow the money.

I'd like to hear your practical (and affordable) solution to the problem that your "candidate with guts" would implement. (I'm serious about that -- I recognize that this is a serious problem and if there is a solution which is better, more cost-effective and more likely to reduce associated crime, I'd be all for it.)

Personally, I think it would take far more political "guts" to try my idea than to escalate the war on drugs. ----- jim o\-S