FAILURES IN THE FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS

To the Editor:

Your editorial made an important point about the need for more effort
to reduce the demand for drugs.

The United States should devote more resources to preventing and
treating substance abuse and dependence. But these resources should be
allocated based on need.

Alcohol is the drug of choice for the overwhelming majority of people
suffering from a substance use disorder. According to the 2006
National Survey on Drug Use and Health, nearly 16 million Americans
were dependent on or abusing alcohol. That's five times greater than
the number of people who were dependent on or abusing illicit drugs
and almost 15 times greater than the number of people dependent on or
abusing cocaine.

Rather than spend billions of dollars on foreign intrigues and
high-profile cocaine seizures, the next administration should do more
to address the greatest source of drug-related problems in the United
States: alcohol.

David R. Anderson

Washington

The writer is communications director and senior research scientist in
the department of health policy, George Washington University Medical
Center.