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War on drugs

We shouldn't be too critical of the Kaufman County sheriff (Dallas
Morning News, Aug. 25). His people conducted a drug raid against
innocent people, but this sort of mistake is made all over the country.
In many cases, officials brush it off without so much as a "Sorry." At
least Sheriff Robert Harris acknowledged the seriousness of the mistake,
took responsibility, and took action to prevent a reoccurrence. He
should get credit for this. The real problem is the war on drugs. I
would prefer a world without drugs, but as long as we pressure law
enforcement to use aggressive means on a large scale, mistakes will be
made and the innocent will suffer more and more. It isn't worth it. For
this and many other reasons, we need to find less coercive, less
punitive and less intrusive means to deal with the drug problem.
"Toughness" is doing more harm than good.

BARRY V. SMITH, Dallas