FOCUS DRUG FIGHT ON DEMAND, NOT SUPPLY

In his Dec. 3 column on Robert Downey Jr.'s recent arrest ("Downey behind
bars"), Philip Terzian states that there are "no simple, comprehensive
solutions" to drug addiction. However, the absence of a simple answer is
not reason enough for surrendering to legalization.

It is surprising that conservative politicians, who tout the benefits of
the market economy, so often ignore the implications of its theories when
illegal drugs are concerned by throwing police and prisons at the problem.
The law of supply and demand applies equally to legal and illicit
substances. That is, when there is a demand, market forces will find a way
to satisfy that demand. If the supply is restricted, demand doesn't stop
(particularly in the case of an addictive drug), the price simply
increases. In the case of drugs, as the price increases, drug-related crime
increases, fostered by those who need to finance their drug habit and/or
maintain their profitable "distribution channel."

Thus, Mr. Terzian's viewpoint -- that we will not solve the drug problem
through interdiction -- is a sensible one. However, by then supporting what
appears to be an argument for legalization, he makes short shrift of the
demand side of the equation.

If, as a society, we re-allocate some of the billions of dollars spent on
interdiction to increasing our investment in suppressing the demand for
illegal drugs, we will reap more positive long-term benefits. This
re-allocation should include the increased funding of facilities that offer
free treatmeUS RI: LTEnt on demand for drug addiction, and even greater
efforts at what Terzian dubs "K-12 propaganda." Sometimes, propaganda is a
good thing.

This is not to say that efforts to stop the flow of illegal drugs should be
abandoned. We must still police our borders, finance the development of
profitable agricultural alternatives for farmers in other countries whose
livelihoods depend on the cultivation of plants from which illegal drugs
are derived, and fund adequate policing for drug-related crime at a local
level. But before succumbing to arguments for legalization, let's adjust
our spending priorities to increasingly focus on the demand side, not the
supply side.

MICHAEL M. WOODY

Cumberland