March 28, 2006 

WRTA

 Brown Shoes Diary 

Expanding the Illegal Drug Trade

When I heard Rick Geist's proposal to create a drug offender registry similar to Megan's Law, I thought it was the typical useless piece of legislation a politician comes up with when there's a serious issue to be dealt with.  This sounded very similar to Representative Rick's law that motorists must turn on their lights when entering a work zone--a rather pointless action that can't in any way actually make workers safe.  As Rush Limbaugh would say, "It's just symbolism over substance."
 
But a friend alerts me to this fact: If you make it public knowledge where the drug-dealers live, you make it easier for drug users to make their connections!  My friend (who has some experience in drug law enforcement) says that most drug dealers will love to sign up and make their whereabouts public knowledge.  Effectively, Mr. Geist's legislation is taxpayer subsidized advertising for drug dealers.  So how's this registry going to diminish drug use?  It's not, of course, but it's not just empty symbolism.  This is a way to increase the problem, not make it better.

The moral of this story?  If you want real solutions for real problems, you aren't going to find them in Harrisburg or Washington, D.C.  That's like fighting a fire by expecting that water will come out of a gasoline pump.  



The opinions and ideas expressed in this essay are those of John D McGinnis and should not be considered representative of WRTA.com, any institution with which McGinnis is associated, or anyone else.  He can be contacted at zoiprof@atlanticbb.net.

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