Just about 19 months ago, the United States adopted a "zero tolerance" policy on drugs along its borders. That meant that being caught with a tiny amount of drugs - even for personal use rather than smuggling - would result in heavy fines and confiscation of cars or boats.
"There will be no mercy," declared then-Customs Commissioner William von Raab.Unfortunately, the zero tolerance program has been in a shameful retreat ever since. Just last week, federal officials announced the third easing of penalties. What kind of message is this sending? That smuggling drugs is wrong, but using them isn't so bad?
There is a great deal more tolerance in the "zero tolerance" program. Zero does not mean 0 any more. It means an ounce of marijuana or hashish, a gram of cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine, one-tenth of a gram of PCP, or 500 micrograms of LSD.
A person crossing the border into the United States or entering a U.S. port by boat will not have his vessel or vehicle confiscated if the drugs are found in quantities under the above-stated limits. Instead, the operator will be fined. But the fines in the original "zero tolerance" program have now been reduced by 90 percent. The $5,000 and $10,000 fines have been cut to $500 for a first offense and $1,000 for a second offense.
The program had been in effect only two months when an outcry went up after major pleasure boats and yachts were seized for having small "user amounts" of drugs on board. The rule was changed to exempt such seizures if the boats did not appear to be transporting drugs into the country.
Last February, the program was revised again to exempt fishing boats heading to or from fishing grounds.
Since the program began, 8,076 personal vehicles have been seized, along with 452 commercial-type trucks, 190 boats and 13 aircraft.
By backing away from the zero tolerance idea, the government seems to be saying that so-called "recreational use" is not too serious. Yet the whole drug problem is due to the users. The smugglers are merely the pipeline.
As Latin American officials have pointed out on several occasions, they would not have the problems, spawned by drug production, that plague their nations if the United States were not a huge, insatiable, profitable market for drugs. Users in the United States share a major part of the blame every time a judge or journalist or public official is murdered in Colombia.
In view of this undeniable fact, to back down and be more tolerant of possession of user-amounts of illegal drugs is another retreat in the drug war.
It also is a slap in the face to courageous Latin officials who risk their lives every day to oppose the drug lords. U.S. officials ought to be embarrassed to look those brave people in the eye.