ABSURD DRUG WAR

Re: "Drug War requires dual attack," Viewpoints, Oct. 7.

It is not surprising that drug warrior Drug Enforcement Administration
chief Donnie Marshall wants to maintain the failed Drug War "as each
successive generation comes of age." Let there be no misunderstanding, the
DEA plans on fighting its Drug War "forever." The deluded DEA drug warriors
cannot accept defeat.

Fortunately, the American people are beginning to question the veracity and
sanity of a war that can never be won. How much longer can we continue to
arrest 100,000 Americans per month (total for federal, state and local
agencies) for illegal drugs? Ten years? Fifty years? A hundred years?

The Drug War, as all wars, must at some point end. The DEA chief's call for
an endless war spanning generations is destructive, self-serving and absurd
beyond belief.

William E. Hall

Inmate, Federal Correctional Institute, Seagoville