Another senseless drug war death

You know the War on (some) Drugs is a failure when its purveyors feel they have to use folks who are still fairly young to fight the war, without even training them on how to do so. And this time it caused a young woman to die needlessly.

Not long ago, a 23-year-old woman in Tallahassee, Florida, got in trouble for a couple of minor marijuana possession incidents. Part of the problem in her case was that it's Florida - where a minor drug charge becomes major. She was looking at 4 years and a felony record, even though she was only accused of mere possession.

But the Tallahassee police decided they'd exploit the situation by turning her into an informant. Without providing her with any training at all, they used her in a sting in an attempt to catch suspected drug dealers.

But the sting went bad, and she was gunned down.

The story proves how far beyond lost the drug war is. The War on Drugs is more or less a price support for violent gangs (who themselves pay off government officials).

Following this death, the Florida Attorney General's office is reviewing the Tallahassee police's policies. But authorities haven't shown much sensitivity to the young woman's family. Tallahassee's chief of police said, "I'm calling her a criminal."

Then I'm calling the War on Drugs a failure.

Maybe if the drug war's bills weren't being paid by drug lords, this garbage would stop.

(Source: http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080718/COLUMNIST01/807180312/1006/OPINION)