INCREASED FUNDING FOR DRUG WAR ENSURES ITS LONGEVITY IN SOUTH AMERICA

The White House proposal to add $676 million in counternarcotics aid for
South America to the Clinton administration's $1.3 billion Plan Colombia is
a prime example of big government throwing good money after bad ("Lawmakers
wary of involving U.S. in Colombia, Peru," Nation, July 24). The additional
funds will not negate the immutable laws of supply and demand that drive
illegal drug production. A crackdown in one region leads to increased
cultivation elsewhere. When faced with the choice of abject poverty and the
inflated black-market profits of illicit crops, many farmers will choose
the latter. Creating a global welfare state in which every developing
country is paid not to grow illicit crops is a rather expensive proposition.

The various armed factions in Colombia that are tearing the country apart
are dependent financially on profits created by America's never-ending drug
war. While U.S. politicians continue to use the drug war's collateral
damage to justify its intensification at home and abroad, European
countries are embracing "harm reduction." Harm reduction is based on the
principle that both drugs and drug laws have the potential to cause harm.
Given the historical precedent in America's disastrous experiment with
alcohol prohibition, harm reduction should be understood readily by
Congress. Ironically, fear of appearing "soft on crime" compels many
politicians to support a punitive drug policy that fuels organized crime
and violence.

ROBERT SHARPE Program officer The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation
Washington