WHY LEGALIZING DRUGS IS DOPEY IDEA

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.