Pubdate: Tue, 05 Feb 2008 Source: Gilroy Dispatch, The (CA) Copyright: 2008 The Gilroy Dispatch Contact: http://www.gilroydispatch.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3377 Author: Howard J. Wooldridge SILLY AND USELESS TO SPEND TAX DOLLARS ON THE WAR AGAINST DRUGS Dear Editor, As a Michigan police detective, I learned that every drug dealer arrested or shot was replaced within days. My colleague, Bob Cooke, I am sure has had the exact same experience.Thus, his lament on the cuts in federal money to fund more arrests is ill-advised. Every meth lab busted is quickly replaced either in California or Mexico.Though fed money helps arrest drug dealers, it is the taxpayers of California who must then foot the bill to keep them in prison for decades, costing millions. Of course everyone wants the "free" money from Washington.How can it be wise federal policy to borrow a billion from China to give to local police to arrest drug dealers who are replaced immediately? Officer Howard J. Wooldridge (retired), Education Specialist, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (www.leap.cc), Washington, D.C. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake