DRUG WAR

To The Editor:

The first week of October St Lawrence County celebrated the largest
cocaine bust in county history when the Drug Task Force seized 14 ounces.

The last week of October that record seizure was broken by the record
seizure of two pounds of cocaine.

This month President Bush will ask Congress to maintain current aid
levels to Colombia adding another $600 million to the record $4
billion tax dollars spent since 2000 to support the Latin nation's
fight against drug trafficking. Adding another $600 million while
acknowledging a 26 percent increase in coca production in 2005.

The war on cocaine was not designed to be won. Too many are employed
by it.

Prisons are distributed for head counts to secure state and federal
aid.

The employment secures votes. A vicious cycle of war that accomplishes
nothing but the greed for political power.

Time to chart a new course for victory in the war on cocaine, put coca
leaves in our super markets.

South Americans routinely drink coca tea and chew coca leaves. The
tiny amount of cocaine in the leaves is a mild stimulant and appetite
suppressant that isn't more frightening than coffee or colas, in fact,
it might be less addictive than caffeine, and on balance it might even
be good for you. When the World Health Organization asked scientists
to investigate coca in the 1990's, they said it didn't seem to cause
health problems and might yield health benefits.

The nation wouldn't need a 'Plan Colombia', prisons, or new county
jails sucking the taxpayers dry of hard-earned money.

Of course there would be some that would disagree with eliminating
hard core drug addiction controlled by gangs of organized crime.

Larry Seguin

Lisbon