FAILING DRUG WAR

Regarding the Feb. 4 article on the drug war being waged in Colombia, Plan
Colombia could very well spread both civil war and coca production
throughout the region. Communist guerilla 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 overwhelming 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 U.S. is not doing the Colombian people any favors by funding civil war.
Nor are Americans being protected from drugs. Cut off the flow of cocaine
and domestic methamphetamine production will boom to meet the demand for
cocaine-like drugs. Rather than waste resources attempting to overcome
immutable laws of supply and demand, policymakers should look to the
lessons learned from America's disastrous experiment with alcohol prohibition.

Drug laws fuel crime and corruption, which are 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.