DRUG WAR FLOP

Editor -- Exiting Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey has a lot of nerve to be
claiming success in the war on drugs. Drug-related emergency room episodes
are at historic highs despite record government spending on the drug war. A
survey found that heroin use among seniors is also at record levels. The
increase in heroin use is particularly disturbing.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, injection drug
use has directly and indirectly accounted for 58 percent of all AIDS cases
among women in the United States. This public health crisis is a direct
result of zero-tolerance policies that restrict access to clean syringes --
policies that McCaffrey supports. McCaffreyism has proven far more
dangerous to America than drugs. The costly drug war is part of the
problem, not the solution.

Robert Sharpe

Program Officer
Lindesmith Center - Drug Policy Foundation
Washington, D.C.