DRUG WATCH : Hazardous Buildup

An order by California health authorities preventing law enforcement from destroying cocaine by burning it is impractical and ill-conceived.

Still, the state appears hell-bent on enforcing a two-year-old ruling by the Department of Health Services--now the Department of Toxic Substance Control--that prohibits the incineration of highly toxic substances, including cocaine. Hazardous waste carriers, incinerator operators and others who might break the law face fines of up to $25,000 a day.

State efforts to protect the environment are generally commendable. In this case, however, health officials have been overzealous in attempting to force compliance. Now the police will have to come up with another method of destroying the drugs they seize--even though their job is to enforce the law, not to dream up new and safer ways to dispose of the drugs they confiscate.

The cops are not happy. One agent of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration grumbled: “We’re doing what bureaucrats do best. We’re forming committees. We’re having discussions.”

New disposal methods could be expensive. Law enforcement may have to devote scarce funds to ship drugs out of state to be burned. In the meantime, seized drugs are beginning to pile up in police warehouses and evidence lockers. This is a time bomb--an ever-mounting temptation to corruption.

State health officials need to make an exception for the police in this case until a safe and practical alternative can be arranged.