BRAND NEW KEY

Dear Editor:

Now, perhaps more than ever, there is an even stronger case for changing
our government's positioning in the war on drugs.

In addition to disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of nonviolent
citizens, wasting our tax dollars on programs that get larger and deliver
fewer results each year, and helping the spread of corruption among our
police officers, prohibition of marijuana and other substances creates a
black market, which is an easy source of funding for terrorists.

Terrorists profit directly from America's war on drugs, they grow crops and
sell them at the black market's outrageously inflated prices.

That's exactly what the Taliban was doing until this year, when George
Dubya handed over $40 million to coax them to stop. They destroyed the
crops, but how much do you want to bet they will start right up after Bush
pulls any future funding?

Ending the war on drugs, would remove the threat of prison from people who
don't belong there, generate tax dollars that aren't there now, and pull
money right out of the terrorists' pockets.

- - Christopher Palkow, Norfolk VA