GOVERNMENT'S WAR ON DRUGS MUST BE CHECKED

I am writing to offer a counter to the blatantly self-interested Oct. 7
Viewpoints article by Donnie Marshall, "Drug war requires dual attack."

It should be obvious by now that the DEA is an unaccountable agency of the
U.S. government, which is totally interested in the continued prohibition
of some drugs while remaining relatively silent on others. Many billions of
dollars are spent chasing, prosecuting and incarcerating drug users and
sellers, while the chief problems of prohibition remain: adulterated,
expensive drugs, dead and diseased addicts, expanding crime syndicates
(shouldn't this remind us of something?) and massive numbers of people,
particularly blacks, in prison on silly charges less justifiable than those
leveled at the Salem "witches."

It is time to start questioning the right of unaccountable bureaucracies to
persecute and prosecute their citizens for victimless "crimes"; in
particular, the draconian prohibition laws and political funding that allow
these agencies to carry out their putrid wars.

JASON LALANCETTE, Saanich, British Columbia