FORTY YEARS OF DRUG WAR

Recently Sheila Carter wrote the Tribune to support the war on drugs
(Letters, Aug. 5), saying, ``I cannot imagine adding even one more drug to
the horrifying daily statistics that are grimly reported in the news.''

Unfortunately, no such imagining is required. We must deal with the fact
that these drugs are already here - and with the fact that no amount of
wishful thinking will make them go away.

Apologists for the drug war, such as Carter, try to pretend that the laws
against these drugs actually serve some noble purpose. They tell us that
they are concerned about ``the children'' but they don't explain how
putting ``the children'' in prison is going to help them.

After four decades of ruthless war on drugs, we have more heroin addicts,
more overdose deaths and a wider selection of cheap, powerful and dangerous
drugs than ever before. When is the war going to start working?

RAY ALDRIDGE, Fort Walton Beach