FLAWED PROGRAM

Regarding the Tribune-Review's April 7 editorial "Attacking 'ecstasy'":
Ecstasy is the latest illegal drug to be making headlines, but it won't be
the last until politicians acknowledge the drug war's inherent failure.
Drug policies modeled after our disastrous experiment with alcohol
prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug
dealers do not ID for age, but they do push trendy, profitable "club drugs"
such as ecstasy, regardless of the dangers posed.

There are cost-effective alternatives to the drug war. The Netherlands has
successfully reduced overall drug use by replacing marijuana prohibition
with regulation. Dutch rates of drug use are significantly lower than U.S.
rates in every category. Separating the hard- and soft-drug markets and
establishing age controls for marijuana have proven more effective than
zero tolerance.

As the most popular illicit drug in America, marijuana provides the black
market contacts that introduce users to drugs like heroin. This "gateway"
is the direct result of a fundamentally flawed policy. It makes no sense to
waste tax dollars on failed policies that finance organized crime and
needlessly expose children to dangerous drugs.

Unfortunately for Americans, our leaders are more prone to
counterproductive preaching than cost-effective pragmatism.

Robert Sharpe Washington, D.C.