FIGHT ABUSE, NOT USE

Regarding the editorial of March 28, "A way to justify the job of 'drug
czar' ": The drug war could be successful if it were waged against drug
abuse and addiction. It has failed because it aims to stop drug use.

We have been fighting in earnest since 1973 to stop drug use. The fight is
fueled by our anger at foreign drug cartels, at our drug users and
risk-seeking young men who defy the will of the majority, at our
neighborhoods destroyed and at our overdose deaths. Congress responds by
increasing the penalties for drug use and drug dealing. Meanwhile, the
illegal market thrives and serious drug use changes hardly at all.

I agree with the Tribune that the drug czar should be willing to articulate
and implement a strategy that Americans can have faith in. But first we
need a viable public policy - other than prohibition - on which to base a
strategy. We understand, for instance, that alcohol prohibition is not the
best solution to DUI deaths and fetal alcohol syndrome babies. Our
experience with alcohol Prohibition in the 1920s taught my grandparents'
generation that people don't stop using a drug just because Congress passes
a law against it, and that escalating the penalties to make them stop
causes more damage than it prevents. Any new drug czar would simply put the
best face on the stalemate.

John Chase, Palm Harbor