END THE CORRUPTING DRUG WAR MADNESS

When are policymakers going to acknowledge the dangerous levels of
institutional corruption engendered by the drug war? The news of the
Providence police officer charged with selling cocaine to an undercover
detective is just the latest example. This insidious corruption stretches
from coast to coast and reaches the highest levels.

The former commander of U.S. anti-drug operations in Colombia was found
guilty of laundering the profits of his wife's heroin-smuggling operation.
Entire countries in Latin America have been destabilized because of the
corrupting influence of organized-crime groups that profit from the illegal
drug trade. These profits would not be possible if not for drug prohibition.

Like alcohol prohibition in the 1920s, the drug war is causing tremendous
societal harm, with little to show for it. Drug laws fuel organized crime
and corruption, which is then used to justify increased drug-war spending.
It's time to end this madness and start treating substance abuse like the
public health problem that it is.

ROBERT SHARPE Washington , D.C.