BOGUS WAR ON DRUGS'

Froma Harrop's Jan. 9 column, "Take me out of the nanny society," hits the
nail on the head, and if mere good sense could change the course of drug
policy in the U.S., surely this article would cause a revolution. But drug
prohibition is today too important a tool for U.S. political institutions,
and too critical an issue for certain economic interests to expect that
significant drug-law reform will be initiated in the United States. This is
why we Europeans are proceeding decidedly toward reform, refusing to
kow-tow to the U.S. on these matters.

Quite the contrary to prohibitionist propaganda, the U.S. "War on Drugs" is
not about preventing the harms associated with people using illegal
substances; it is not even about protecting young people from discovering
their use, and it is certainly not about improving the conditions of life
in inner cities. It is about political power and posturing at every level.

PETER WEBSTER

Paris