THE DEA'S DEADLY OBSESSION

In a sense, I agree with Oliver North's Aug. 26 column: There is too
much focus on marijuana, and not enough on truly dangerous drugs
("Media grass fires face DEA chief," Commentary).

Coincidentally, syndicated columnist Steven Chapman said the same day
(in his home paper, the Chicago Tribune) what I have said for years:
It is the Drug Enforcement Administration's focus on marijuana that
has allowed other, more harmful drugs to flow seemingly unchecked
across our borders.

The Supreme Court opinion Mr. North mentions is itself part of the
problem: Instead of considering three decades of scientific research
proving that marijuana is about on a par with alcohol, the court
defers to an act of Congress that classifies cannabis as a Schedule I
narcotic right up there with heroin and cocaine.

Let's face it no politician would have the guts to rewrite that law
to reflect scientific reality because that likely would be a
political death sentence.

What Mr. North and others overlook, however, is a concept with which
your writers and editors should be more than familiar. Again, I defer
to Mr. Chapman: "The problem lies in the law of supply and demand,
which no government can repeal. The flow of drugs will continue as
long as there are Americans willing to pay handsomely to get high. So
maybe we should stop expecting the rest of the world to save us from
ourselves."

Well said, indeed.

JEFFREY L. FISHBEIN
Selinsgrove, Pa.