DRUG WAR WORTH FIGHTING DESPITE OPPOSITION, COST

We've spent hundreds of billions of dollars in law enforcement, prevention and
treatment since former President Richard Nixon declared war on drugs in 1971.
Yet the use of illicit substances continues to plague our country.

The federal government spends nearly $1 billion a month on this war, but users
spend more than five times that much to buy drugs.

Beyond the horrific human toll of 20,000 drug-induced deaths each year, illegal
drugs cost our economy more than $280 billion annually, according to the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Incredibly, there are those who choose to ignore drugs' human devastation and
economic cost. Many of them are pseudo-sophisticate baby boomers who consider
themselves superior and hip in their wry, reckless disregard of the facts.

They also may smoke marijuana, advocate its legalization and rationalize
cocaine as what they call a recreational drug.

And there is a surprising list of libertarians and conservatives, including
William Buckley and Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman, who also advocate
the legalization of drugs.

Another Nobel laureate, Gary Becker, a professor of economics at the University
of Chicago, told me, "It would certainly save a lot of resources for society.
We could tax drug use so it could even lead to government revenue."

He also said, "We would be able to greatly cut the number of people in prison,
which would save resources for state and local government."

But the cost of drug abuse goes well beyond the expense of controlling supply
and demand. Drug users cost the country $160 billion each year in lost
productivity. Parental substance abuse is responsible for $10 billion of the
$14 billion spent nationally each year on child welfare. And drugs are involved
in seven out of 10 cases of abuse and neglect.

Pete Wilson, former governor of California, is a strong opponent of drug
legalization. Wilson said the problem that advocates of legalization fail to
acknowledge is that drugs are addictive and, therefore, not just another
commodity.

"Drugs did not become viewed as bad because they are illegal," Wilson said.
"Rather, they became illegal because they are clearly bad."

Although the war on drugs certainly has not captured the American public's
attention, there has been success in efforts to curb drug use and supply.

According to the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future Study, the
percentage of high school seniors who reported using any drug in the past month
decreased to 26% in 2001 from 39% in 1978.

Crop Report

There are 9 million fewer drug users in America than there were in 1979. And
coca cultivation was 15% lower in Colombia in 2002, thanks to the combined
efforts of the U.S. and Colombian governments.

John Walters, national drug control policy director, is optimistic about the
war on drugs. Walters told me, "We have to remember that, since we got serious
in the '80s, overall drug use is half of what it was. And that's progress."

I would say that is quite a lot of progress, but the job is only half done.