SHOW DRUG WAR RESULTS

President Clinton has just told Colombia the United States will commit $1.3 billion to help that nation "combat cocaine trafficking," adding that amount to the billions already thrown down the rathole otherwise known as the "war against drugs."

The truth is that what we have here is either another Prohibition or -- if you prefer a more recent analogy -- the law-enforcement equivalent of Vietnam. But nobody seems to want to deal with the truth.

Those of us on the conservative side always lambaste liberals for continuing to waste money on failed programs like welfare, for foolishly believing that if billions of dollars didn't get the job done, a few billion more will. Even if it's a goal we support -- to reduce the damage done by drugs -- shouldn't we be asking for the same kind of "show us the results" evidence we demand of other government initiatives?

So begins the editorial for the next edition of Interactive Evening Forum, which will be in Wednesday's News-Sentinel. The editorial will be online at The News-Sentinel's Web site (www.news-sentinel.com/ns/) from tonight through Monday. If you'd like to participate in the online discussion, click on "Forum" and follow the instructions to share your comments. Those participating by Tuesday afternoon could see their comments included with the editorial Wednesday.