DRUG WAR, ABUSE COSTLY

Q: How much does the United States government and the American taxpayer
spend each year on the war on drugs, both at home and on foreign soil? --
V.J., Fayetteville A: A lot.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy plans to spend $19.2 billion in
its 2002 fiscal year. That's up $1.1 billion from its 2001 fiscal year.

By the way, for the sake of comparison, the Reagan administration spent
$1.65 billion on the drug war in 1982, and the Nixon administration spent
$65 million on it in 1969.

The drug-control office says that Americans spent $62.9 billion last year
on illegal drugs and on legal drugs that were then used illegally.

Meanwhile, according to a group called Common Sense for Drug Policy, the
nation spends about $8.6 billion a year on keeping drug-law violators
behind bars.

The group said that criminal and medical costs related to drug abuse total
more than $67 billion a year.

Common Sense for Drug Policy cites numerous government sources for its
information. It is a nonprofit organization which says it is "dedicated to
expanding discussion on drug policy by resonating the voices of those
raising questions about existing law and educating the public about
alternatives to current policies."