Speakout

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Put this in your pipe

This is just a logical observation in regard to "drug paraphernalia seizures," at two Sikeston businesses. First off, I'm not endorsing drug use by any means, mainly because it doesn't need my help. It's time to realize that the war on drugs has long been lost by law enforcement efforts to deplete drugs in communities. Lots of people use drugs and always will. So to set the goal to eliminate drugs is an exercise in complete futility. The reason I offer this realization is because of the comment made by a Sikeston DPS officer in reference to his attitude of the local establishments retail sale of these pipes, stash cans and these herbal cleansing drinks to pass drug tests. He stated that this was "part of an ongoing effort to keep this stuff out of our cities." Now here comes the logic to make the aforementioned quote of an ongoing effort an ill thought out plan by law enforcement. Those two businesses, no matter how unsavory they may seem, are generating revenue and helping to stimulate the local economy. Those two businesses pay city taxes and pay for the city business licenses. There are regulations that should only be enforced with fines if violated. Where it affects the law, if nobody sells pipes and there are other tools for using these drugs, then that's less misdemeanors on the streets that will generate revenue through fines imposed by courts. Revenue shortages due to less fines, shows a drop in crime which means budget cuts for law enforcement. Budget cuts mean limited funding for new weapons, new cruisers and even payroll. This results in less cops on the streets protecting innocent citizens, thereby facilitating the possibility for more violent criminals being caught due to the lack of men available for investigations. All of these negative effects also breed corruption of the law and allow citizens to become victimized by the people that are paying for the law to turn its head. A low salary will turn a law officer's head pretty quickly. If I worked at that great big, brand new, big old police station downtown, that doesn't look very cheap or affordable in any manner, I would love for people to be able to buy all the paraphernalia they could carry because it would only help provide justification for the citizens' tax dollars that pay me. Also, because it's job security. If there are no crimes, there are no cops. Just something to think about. And how can they call it drug paraphernalia when in a court of law a pipe has to have trace amount of residue of an illegal substance indicating a use that is inconsistent with the manufacturer's suggestion?