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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Forward review by US District Court Judge, March 5, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Drug War Addiction (Paperback)
By John L Kane Years ago, the sheriff of a Colorado mountain county was approached by an informant. A load of meth was entering the state from California. The tip was good: the informant knew who was picking up the load, what type of car would be used, the date it was due to arrive, and where it was going. The dealers lived in a neighboring county. The sheriff filed his report with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and passed the tip on to the sheriff in the county where the dealers lived. Imagine his surprise when, more than a year later, the very sheriff he had warned was arrested along with key members of his staff for running the meth-dealing ring!
Was that the defining moment for Bill Masters, Sheriff of San Miguel County -- the idealistic officer who received the informant's tip and dutifully passed it on? He served on the front line of the War on Drugs even before he was appointed Sheriff in 1979. He is the recipient of an award for outstanding achievement from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Bill Masters had made numerous drug-related arrests and led countless more investigations. Today, he is one of this country's leading opponents of the drug war. In DRUG WAR ADDICTION he tells us what knocked him off the war horse.
The son of a Marine who served in the South Pacific during World War II, Masters grew up in Los Angeles. After enlisting in the Coast Guard he became a law enforcement officer. First elected as a Republican and then as a Libertarian who won 80% of the vote, he is now in his fifth term as Sheriff of San Miguel County, Colorado. When Sheriff Masters takes us along with him on police training, investigations and arrests, he clearly knows whereof he speaks. It is his unique vantage point that makes DRUG WAR ADDICTION such a valuable addition to the growing dialogue on the far-reaching effects of our country's most recent experiment with Prohibition. Indeed, according to Masters, America is addicted to its domestic war.
"The first way the drug war has become an addiction," he writes, "is obvious: law enforcement agencies are addicted to the money." Not only does that enable police departments to pay the salaries of additional staff, it also buys them guns and high-tech surveillance equipment. As famed economist and Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman has pointed out, local agencies benefit not just from this multi-billion dollar bonanza, but also the forfeiture of assets of suspected drug dealers. In making them a beneficiary of its largesse, the drug war at the same time diverts law enforcement from pursuing its primary mission and appointed task of protecting the public against violent crime.
In regard to forfeiture, it isn't even necessary to charge or convict a suspect in order to seize his property; in fact, it's far simpler to threaten prosecution and take property in lieu of giving the suspect his day in court. Herein lies Masters' second powerful point: the extent to which police departments are corrupted by drug prohibition.
It is often said that familiarity breeds contempt. It is equally true that familiarity breeds corruption. While it is impossible to know with precision the extent to which law enforcement has been corrupted by the drug war because many infractions amount to just looking the other way or taking "a little cream off the top" from known dealers, the General Accounting Office has found that between 1993 and 1997, on average, half of all FBI-led investigations into police misconduct were related to drug offenses. These investigations go all the way up to theft, perjury and murder. The human face Bill Masters puts on the corruption of law enforcement is his most indelible contribution.
DRUG WAR ADDICTION refreshes the national dialogue with poignant examples which bring the devastation and apparent futility of the War on Drugs all too painfully close to our doors. Sheriff Masters writes from the battle zone. Both supporters of the drug war and those who believe it is a failure will benefit from this brave warrior's message.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Covers it all, March 27, 2002
This review is from: Drug War Addiction (Paperback)
I have known Bill Masters since he ran for sheriff on a hard core Republican anti-drug platform. I was a hippie at the time and voted against him, but somehow he was always friendly and stopped to visit with me on the street and i grew to respect him in spite of our differences. This was some 20+ years ago, and much to his credit, he kept his eyes and ears open while he was doing his job as sheriff. He learned a lot, he researched a lot, and he got better and better at what he did. Lately he helped me out recovering some stolen property going above and beyond what I would have expected of any law officer. He is an exceptional individual by any standards. He may just be the best sheriff in the whole country by now. He has the most courteous, friendly, staff you've ever met. And they are definetly out to get people who commit crimes against people, not to hassle people for what they believe in. Recently i went to a debate between Bill Masters and Andrew Weil concerning the war on drugs. Mostly they agreed. Bill's research and arguments from a lawman's point of view are impeccable. His argument is the responsibility lies in the ultimate actions of the user, not in what substances he puts in his body. And he points out many evils of "collateral damage" of the drug war. Andy sometimes makes arguments from a medical, moral, or legal point of view, but doesn't see anything wrong with taking a drug for just plain fun, no argument needed. Bill's book is a "must read" for anyone involved in any way with the law, the military, or the government that in any way interacts with the "war on drugs". It points to the only sensible solution, and it points out the many foibles of the present policies, with many sad examles. I started to read the book last night and couldn't put it down. I read the whole thing at one sitting. It's just a great read; easy, fascinating, and compelling.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
quick, concise, and to the point, May 25, 2002
This review is from: Drug War Addiction (Paperback)
A completely objective look at the futile "war on drugs". Although a very short book, Masters is able to convey a lot of information about drug prohibition and why our government insists on perpetuating this "war". No matter what your feelings are about drug prohibition, you'll enjoy this book.
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