It is impossible to keep drugs out of a free society like America, and the nation's public policy must change to reflect that reality, said Rep. Barney Frank '61 (D-Mass.) yesterday during a speech at the ARCO Forum.

Frank assailed the war on drugs, condemning the practice of mandatory minimum sentencing.

"I think America's drug policy is the single most mistaken public policy we have in America," he said. "The cure is indisputably worse than the disease."

He termed America's efforts to combat drug use and trade wasteful, intrusive and damaging to individuals and communities. He attacked conservatives for continuing the fight while abandoning programs like welfare for their inefficiency.

Frank also attacked the "harsh" penalties associated with the "victimless crime" of drug use and the "corrosive effect" on law enforcement, which, without a victim's assistance, often must resort to more intrusive measures.

According to Frank, immigrants convicted of low-level drug offenses face deportation, while seizure laws allow the police to take property of those suspected of being involved in drug transactions.

He said mandatory minimum sentencing has chilled the ability of judges to use their discretion to fashion appropriate, individually-sensitive decisions.

Frank also attacked the system of drug-enforcement as racially-biased, saying that the mandatory minimum guidelines had stiffer sentences for drugs often, according to Frank, used by minorities.