GOAL UNREALISTIC

To the editor:

A remarkably silly, totally unrealistic goal - "a drug-free America by
2002" - was announced by the Republicans in the U.S. House of
Representatives with great fanfare at a Capitol Hill press conference on
April 30, 1998. Signing a "Declaration of Commitment," Republicans House
members pledged, with a straight face, to achieve this impossible goal.

As we enter 2002, according to the latest government surveys, 14 million
Americans are current illicit drug users, of which 11 million are simply
marijuana smokers. Clearly the Republicans in Congress have failed
miserably to reach their announced goal.

The point of raising this matter is to underscore the exaggerated rhetoric
that pervades and distorts our drug policy debate in this country.
Politicians promise unrealistic and unattainable goals, with the
expectation they will never be held accountable by the voting public. This
is pandering at its worst.

Of course we are not a drug-free society; there are none on the planet. Our
goal should be to discourage harmful and abusive drug use, while adopting
policies that minimize the harm from marijuana use and marijuana
prohibition. And the first step toward that goal must be ending the arrest
of responsible marijuana smokers. There were 734,000 marijuana arrests last
year in this country and 88 percent were for possession only.

Please remind your congressperson of the drug warriors' last failed
promise: a drug-free America by 2002.

Dustin Ross Sulak

Bloomington