END THE MADNESS

Regarding your thoughtful March 9 editorial ("Colombia update"), Plan
Colombia could very well spread both civil war and coca production
throughout South America.

Communist guerrilla movements do not originate in a vacuum. U.S. tax
dollars would be better spent addressing the underlying causes of civil
strife rather than applying military force to attack the symptoms. Forcing
Colombia's FARC guerrillas to the bargaining table at gunpoint will not
remedy Colombia's societal inequities.

The United States is not doing the Colombian people any favors by funding
civil war. Nor are Americans being protected from drugs.

Destroy the Colombian coca crop and production will boom in Peru, Bolivia
and Ecuador. Destroy every last plant in South America and domestic
methamphetamine production will increase to meet the demand for
cocaine-like drugs.

The self-professed champions of the free market in the U.S. Congress are
seemingly incapable of applying basic economic principles to drug policy.
Rather than waste resources attempting to overcome immutable laws of supply
and demand, policy-makers should look to the lessons learned from America's
disastrous experiment with alcohol prohibition. Drug laws fuel crime and
violence, which is then used to justify increased drug-war spending.

It's time to end this madness and start treating all substance abuse, legal
or otherwise, as the public health problem it is.

ROBERT SHARPE
Program Officer
The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation
Washington, D.C.