DEA RIDES AMTRAK

Editor -- Outrage at the recently disclosed practice of secretly targeting
Amtrak customers for the attention of the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration, based on the circumstances of their ticket purchase, is
well founded (Editorial, "No Way to Run a Railroad," April 16).

The public policy that gave birth to the practice is even more flawed. By
unwisely declaring certain drugs illegal, we have created powerful criminal
markets. Those markets are unstoppable.

By allowing overmatched law enforcement a cut of drug profits, we are not
protecting "kids" against drugs, but we are giving our police a stake in
lucrative criminal enterprises, victimizing the general public and trashing
the Constitution.

TOM O'CONNELL

San Mateo