Deleware's Former Chief Prosecutor Criticizes War on Drugs
Peter Letang, Deleware's former chief prosecutor, has outlined a concise criticism regarding the war on drugs. Letang suggests "that it is time to retool our focus. Legislating against some traits of human behavior, such as prostitution and prohibition, have been abysmal failures, and why should we think drugs are any different." He recommends removing the profit incentive from the illicit drugs market and lists a number of benefits from doing so:
The profit incentive drives the drug market, and a substantial portion of street violence and criminal activity are the result. Reduce a $200-a-day drug habit to $10 a day and the numbers of convenience-store and street robberies will be reduced. Street corner "turf" shootings will be impacted in that the flow of easy big money will dry up.Letang also describes how the number of those imprisoned for minor drug offenses would plummet, freeing up funds for better rehabilitation programs and other areas of government.