Given the California prison guards union's traditionally generous
campaign contributions, I'm not surprised that Sen. Dianne Feinstein
prefers to continue riding the drug-war gravy train.

With any luck she'll be able to use drug hysteria to her advantage
this November.

The great thing about the drug war for the entrenched interests who
depend on it is that it's unwinnable.

The policies Feinstein supports are proven failures, which accomplish
little other than to enrich organized crime.

Her opponent, Rep. Tom Campbell, is one of the few politicians in this
country who offer a viable alternative to the drug war. By registering
hard-drug addicts and providing standardized doses in a treatment
setting, public health problems like HIV associated with addiction
could be eliminated.

If able to purchase drugs at cost instead of at inflated black market
prices, addicts would no longer need to commit crimes to feed their
habits. More important, organized crime would lose a lucrative client
base. This would render illegal drug trafficking unprofitable, destroy
the black market and thereby spare future generations the horror of
addiction.

This harm-reduction plan may sound defeatist, but if destroying the
black market and permanently protecting future generations from hard
drugs is defeat, I for one am willing to surrender.

Californians who care about protecting their children from drugs would
be wise to vote for Campbell. The counter-productive preaching has
gone on long enough. It's time for a pragmatic drug policy.

Robert Sharpe, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, George Washington
University Washington, D.C.