Scheer on the War on Drugs

If there are others in America like Robert Scheer (Column Left, July 23) who believe that cocaine possession constitutes a “victimless” crime, then, to borrow from Scheer, we are in serious trouble. The violence, corruption and loss of human life attributable to cocaine trafficking, purchase and use speaks for itself. American society as a whole pays an enormous price, every day, for the type of crime that Michael Irvin pleaded guilty to, making all of us victims.

Irvin has gained from being in the limelight for several years, and if he is being made an example of now because of his celebrity, he justly deserves it. (He himself admitted as much at his post-plea-bargain news conference.) The threat of harsh criminal penalties is an absolute necessity in dealing with scourge of drugs. Leave it to Scheer to feel sorry for a millionaire athlete who broke the law.

GUY R. GRUPPIE

Los Angeles

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I enjoyed Scheer’s commentary on Irvin. I also find the current zealousness that the courts, law enforcement and politicians focus on the “occasional” drug user to be overblown and misplaced.

Unfortunately, I suspect too many of our public officials and members of law enforcement have developed a vested interest in maintaining the hysteria to ensure continued flow of funding to sustain their careers and reelection. Current drug policies and solutions hinge on this increasing inability to exercise “common sense,” preferring to put people into a cycle of an ever-more-complicated and vicious “legal and regulatory process” to preserve the illusion of action. This seems to only further the careers of those in drug law enforcement and illicit traders in drugs.

CHARLES JAMES

South Pasadena