Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Drug Money Goes To Fort Bend Law Enforcement Agencies

Did anyone see this in the Houston Chronicle’s coverage of Fort Bend County news?

It sure gives one pause to see all of those Republicans holding checks for a total of $655,728, doesn’t it? Especially when you consider the illicit source: drug money seizures.

It gives one pause, and it makes one wonder whether Texas will ever adopt progressive drug laws, because if local law enforcement agencies and the district attorney’s office are the sole beneficiaries of seized drug money assets, then the answer is decidedly no.

What to with drug money? Use it in further drug interdiction, maybe?

Making no sense at all because the reason America has a drug problem is because America has drug addicts.

Pumping seized drug assets into drug interdiction, instead of into drug rehabilitation programs makes as much sense as using cigarette taxes to buy air purifiers in county buildings.

They don’t do that, do they?

1 comment:

bob said...

It would be interesting if someone (hint-hint Chronicle) would FOI the particulars of those $655,700 in seizures.

Such as, how much and from whom was that money extracted? What was their demographic and racial makeup? Did arrests of said persons accompany those seizures, or was any of this la mordida, gringo style?

Does this represent a year's worth of seizures? What else besides cash was seized? Houses? Vehicles?

Meanwhile, I wonder what percentage of the total street value of drugs moving up U.S. 59 through Fort Bend County this $655,700 represents. Probably a tiny fraction of 1%, I am guessing...