DEA APPOINTMENT IS RIGHT ON

Robert Sharpe, in his Sept. 3 letter "DEA goals mutually exclusive,"
perpetuates the myth that our jails are filled with casual drug users
and hard-core addicts. In fact, the vast majority of the people
locked up for drug offenses are those who were convicted of dealing
or transporting not using illegal drugs.

Drug abuse can only be fought successfully with a combination of
education, enforcement and treatment. Educating children about the
dangers of illegal drugs begins at home with families before children
are even in school. Teachers, too, must do their part. (The Drug
Enforcement Administration, among its other activities, helps parents
and educators teach children about the dangers of drugs.) Law
enforcement can try to make drugs less accessible and the price for
selling them high. Treatment programs, which are only effective when
users want to be helped, can provide support and encouragement to
addicts who desire to remain clean.

Society as a whole must present a clear, coherent and unified message
that using or selling illegal drugs is unacceptable and will not be
tolerated.

Today, however, children receive mixed messages at best. Parents,
many of whom used illegal drugs themselves, refuse to teach that
drugs are bad. Children often refuse to be "judgmental" of their
peers on certain subjects, such as drug abuse. The media including
movies, music and television often glorify, and rarely vilify, drugs.
Actors, sports heroes and other celebrities caught committing
drug-related offenses are given repeated chances to turn their lives
around. Some do. All are pitied, and most are immediately forgiven,
suffering no lasting consequences save an empty wallet and months of
court-ordered rehabilitation programs.

The message being delivered loud and clear to children is that drugs
are sort of bad, drug dealers are kind of doing something wrong and
drug addicts probably need help. Maybe. Legalizing hard drugs would
only make things worse.

Drug abuse is not a "victimless" crime. Most drug addicts spend
considerable time either getting high or searching for the means to
get high. Eventually, this prevents them from concentrating on their
jobs or taking care of their families.

Drug addicts become increasingly dependent on support from families,
friends or government. Too often, they commit crimes to support their
habits. Neither the price of illegal drugs (which is already too low)
nor even their accessibility (which is already too high) "force"
addicts to commit crimes. Rather, drug use prevents them from being
able to hold down jobs, and the need for higher doses drives them to
search for easy money. Prostitution, burglary, robbery, murder and
car theft are all side effects of drug abuse.

An addict's family and neighbors are all victims of his drug abuse.
If drugs were legalized, many of these problems would remain, and
some would become worse.

That so many young men are willing to risk incarceration at the hands
of police or risk death at the hands of rival drug dealers is a
poignant commentary on society's failures. That drug abuse cuts
across social, economic, racial and gender lines means that it is not
"someone else's" problem. Drug abuse has existed throughout recorded
history, in all societies. Perhaps the best we can hope for is
control, rather than elimination, of the problem. Whatever the case,
we must send our children a much clearer message than they now
receive.

No one seriously believes that the drug crisis in America can be
solved through enforcement alone. It is, however, equally wrong to
think that treatment programs by themselves can end the scourge of
illegal drugs. DEA chief Asa Hutchinson is correct in his support
for, in Mr. Sharpe's words, the "balanced goals of aggressive law
enforcement, increased treatment and reduced demand." We are all in
this fight together, and it is a battle measured one life at a time.

Sometimes it looks hopeless, but it is a battle worth fighting.

JAMES TERPENING Washington