COLOMBIA LOSING DRUG WAR, PROF SAYS

BIG FLATS -- The culture of violence, low coffee prices, the geography and
the demand for drugs all over the world contribute to the drug problem in
Colombia, retired Corning Community College professor Joe Vikin said
Wednesday night during a Great Decisions lecture.

The eight-part series at CCC Airport Corporate Park continued with Vikin's
speech, "Colombia and Drug Trafficking." Vikin is a native of Colombia who
became a U.S. citizen 48 years ago. The Great Decisions program was begun
by the Foreign Policy Association, based in New York City, in 1954.

Vikin said violence in Colombia stems largely from a national government
that is weakened by low funds.

"The income tax is around 3 percent and a national pastime is to avoid
payment of taxes," Vikin said. "Most of the people have to provide for
themselves services that in this country we expect the government to
provide, be it at the municipal, state or federal level.

"Let me give you an example how the police are treated in that country. Two
common sayings go something like this: 'He is as ignorant as a policeman,'
and 'We don't pay attention to a policeman.' "

Vikin added that the price of coffee, Colombia's major export, has gone
down while other commodities such as oil go up. That leads farmers to try
to make money by growing coca or marijuana.

As for demand, Vikin said drug use by celebrities perpetuates the demand
for drugs in America. He pointed to Darryl Strawberry and Robert Downey Jr.
as examples of celebrities who know they can get away with abusing drugs.

John McCabe, 78, and his wife, Eva McCabe, 67, of Waverly, who are students
of CCC's Phoenix Project, a lifelong learning program for people 55 and
older, have attended all of the Great Decisions lectures.

"You just can't stop it," John McCabe said about the drug problem in
Colombia. "There's no government down there. The cartels control everything."

John Roby, a retired Campbell-Savona High School social studies teacher,
serves as the series moderator. He said that in researching Colombia to
prepare for Vikin's lecture, he found that a proposed solution to the drug
problem is to destroy coca and marijuana fields by spraying them with
chemicals.

"The long-term effects will be contamination of the water supply and the
ecosystem," he said.

CCC's next Great Decisions topic, "South Asia: Focus on India," is from
6:30 to 8:30 p.m. April 3. For more information, call 607/962-9497.