Last week the Clinton administration announced plans to tighten regulations on the liquor industry. These new regulations would be similar to the initial steps President Clinton took to begin the “war on tobacco.”

Clinton appears to be winning the tobacco witch hunt, and now wants to start another battle with the liquor industry. Unfortunately, he is losing the biggest and most important fight of all: the war on drugs.

In the last five years, the use of marijuana by young teenagers has almost doubled. Heroin use is as high as it was in the ’60s and ’70s. Even in Iowa, we have seen the proliferation of new and more dangerous drugs like methamphetamine. One would think these statistics indicate a growing crisis.

President Clinton obviously does not. After the ’92 elections, Clinton stated that he did not need a Director of National Drug Policy (called the Drug Czar). Amazingly though, he had a glorious revelation as the ’96 election season approached that maybe he should appoint a Drug Czar. He appointed Barry McCaffrey, a four-star Army general to show that he would indeed be tough on drug dealers. Unfortunately that ¡s what it looks like — a show.

As laughable as his tactic was, the American people bought it. However, the statistics do not lie. It’s not very hard to imagine why drug use is skyrocketing. After all, we have a president who cannot even admit to smoking marijuana while in college. If he doesn’t have the mettle to admit his own drug use, then how can we expect him to fight the drug kingpins of South America?

Meanwhile, state attorney generals are seeking out tobacco companies with a vengeance. The time spent by prosecutors on these cases only takes assets away from what should be the real fight. If we are going to sue these companies, let it wait until we stop the truly dangerous drugs from polluting our communities and destroying the lives of people who inhabit them.

The so-called Justice Department is not doing any better either. Headed up by Attorney General Janet Reno, the Department (along with its nebulous entities like the ATF, DEA, and FBI) is even more ineffective in stopping the flow of drugs. If you want to smoke a cigarette, own a firearm or are named Richard Jewell, they seem to gain a lot more interest in you than if you were a drug dealer.

We are indeed losing a struggle. What can we possibly do to stop this nightmare, since our staggeringly incompetent government will not stop it for us?

First, prosecute the users. Yes, that’s right, prosecute the users. That may surprise a lot of you since society has ingrained us with the concept of the drug addict not as criminal but as victim. The addicts provide the demand for drug dealers, and if you want to win the drug war, snuff out that demand at the source. If you buy, you go to jail. No probation. No community service. We may have to build more jails, but I would rather these people be off the streets anyway.

These people are not victims. They have destroyed their own lives and the lives of those around them. They will steal, cheat, lie and even kill to get their next hits. Maybe a few months in a cell will set their minds straight.

Next, we need to accept that marijuana is an illegal drug and should never be legalized. Marijuana has become the drug of choice among the young and is now as popular as it ever was during the ’60s and ’70s. Pot is not an “alternative to beer” as the NORML folks would have you believe. Though it’s not addictive, it will ruin your life if you use it. Studies have shown that frequent pot users have significantly different brain chemistry and develop mental deficiencies because of it. Marijuana users are also more likely to use other drugs. If a dealer can get you pot, he will certainly try to get you hooked onto something with a bigger high.

Finally, let’s put some really tough penalties on the books for drug dealing. Many municipalities won’t prosecute dealers unless they have significant amounts (over a few ounces) in their possession, and it only takes a single 1 gram rock of crack cocaine to kill you. You would be in deeper trouble if you had sold a pack of cigarettes to a minor. Let’s make the laws tough on dealers, since they make everyone’s lives even tougher.

It’s not hard to win the drug war. We need to make users and dealers aware of tough penalties that exist around them. Unfortunately they do not. When you have a government that is more concerned with a child smoking cigarettes than smoking crack, the priorities of those in Washington are grossly skewed.

Robert Zeis is a senior in finance from Des Moines.