DOLLARS TO COLOMBIA PRODUCE BAD RESULTS

To the Editor:

A few months ago, our Congress appropriated $1.3 billion to be delivered to
Colombia in connection with the "war on drugs."

Almost immediately, I began to notice small items in our papers reporting
the shooting of groups of people, randomly, in their yards and other
village settings, carried out by military or paramilitary personnel. There
was no mention of any connection the victims had to any phase of the drug
trade. Colombia is not an unstable country. It is a nation with important
connections to world trade, with ports on both the Caribbean Sea and the
Pacific Ocean, and with oil and other rich resources. It has its own
internal problems of land ownership and distribution of wealth, among
others. These have been aggravated by our providing a market for drug
cartels to become almost a kingdom unto themselves.

It seems to me that it is not our right or our duty to try to solve
Colombia's internal problems, as the $1.3-billion "aid" indicates is our
intention. Rather it is our responsibility to change our way of handling
the drug-consumption problem that makes it so profitable to the drug lords
of Colombia. The movie "Traffic" portrayed the futility of present methods.

New York Gov. George Pataki is suggesting the repeal of some of Nelson
Rockefeller's draconian sentencing laws. Some states are allotting
increased funds to treatment centers. More money to Colombia will lead to
more involvement by our government and more killings in Colombia. There's
got to be a better way!

Duane Hardy, East Syracuse NY

A JOINT COULD REFRESH LIKE A GLASS OF WINE

To the Editor:

Why do we waste so much time on the medical marijuana issue? It seems so
senseless. Why couldn't cannabis be decriminalized and regulated like alcohol?

Any doctor will tell you that there is no harm in relaxing after work with
one beer or one glass of wine - it can actually be healthy for you. The
18th Amendment in 1920 (Prohibition) made alcohol illegal, except within
the home or for "medical," religious or industrial purposes.

Cannabis contains antioxidants "more powerful than vitamin E or vitamin C,"
according to Dr. Aiden Hampson of the National Institute of Mental Health.
This is in addition to its well-documented neuro-protective,
anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. So why couldn't one joint a day
to relax with after work be healthy too?

Why couldn't alcohol and cannabis be sold in the same stores, side by side?
Why not be able to grow your own cannabis? You can manufacture your own
alcohol. You can legally make 100 gallons per adult, up to two adults per
household. So it's legal to manufacture and have in your home 200 gallons
(1,200 pounds) of beer.

It doesn't seem to matter that marijuana is illegal, even with the threat
of prison people use it recreationally or medically anyway.

We didn't repeal the 18th Amendment on Dec. 5, 1933 so people could use
alcohol. They were already using alcohol. It was repealed because of the
crime and corruption it generated.

Larry Seguin , Lisbon NY

PROBLEM NOT ENFORCEMENT BUT STUPID DRUG LAWS

To the Editor:

Your editorial Jan. 30, entitled "Fighting Drug Abuse," ends with a
quotation from Edward Jurith, acting director of the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy, to wit: "Treatment programs that follow a
criminal from arrest to post-release follow-up must be implemented to end
the cycle of drug abuse and crime." My quarrel is with Jurith, not with
your publication. What he says here is logical only if you accept current
laws as givens. However, if drugs were legal, there would be no
drugs-to-crime-to-drugs cycle for the following reasons:

You can't break a law that doesn't exist.

Drugs are no more associated with crime intrinsically than they are with,
say, going to your job every day. In other words, making drugs illegal
makes about as much sense as making earning a living illegal. If drugs were
legal they would be: a) regulated, b) off the street and c) affordable.

Only about 15 percent of drug users need treatment. The rest are merely
committing radical acts of freedom in protest against stupid drug laws.
Yes, there is a cycle, but not the one suggested by Jurith. It goes like
this: Stupid drug laws (cop and crook enrichment) lead to arrest and trial
(criminal justice attorney enrichment), leading to treatment, whether
needed or not (health professional enrichment) or to jail
(prison-industrial-complex enrichment), leading to disenfranchisement
(white supremacist gratification), leading back to stupid drug laws again.

Well, yeah, let's stop the cycle. Get rid of the stupid drug laws!

The Rev. Jack Wilkinson CNY Chapter president Reconsider, Forum on Drug
Policy Syracuse , NY