COLOMBIA AID IS RISKY

President Clinton's $1.3 billion ''Plan Colombia'' poses a security risk
(''Clinton pledges aid, not force,'' News, Thursday).

Both Colombia's civil war and coca production could very well spread
throughout Latin America. Communist guerilla movements do not originate in
a vacuum. U.S. tax dollars would be better spent addressing the underlying
causes of civil strife rather than applying overwhelming military force to
attack the symptoms.

Forcing Colombia's FARC guerrillas to the bargaining table at gunpoint will
not remedy Colombia's extreme poverty and societal inequities.

We're not doing the Colombian people any favors by fueling civil war. Nor
are we protecting Americans from drugs. Rather than waste resources
attempting to overcome immutable laws of supply and demand, policymakers
should look to the lessons learned from America's disastrous experiment
with alcohol prohibition.

I would think American policymakers would have a better grasp on the basic
economic principles upon which capitalism was founded.

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