DON'T TELL ME THE DRUG WAR HASN'T FAILED

Regarding the June 13 letter by Richard D. Bonnette ("America's drug war
hasn't failed") asserting that war on drugs has made great progress.

Remarkable progress, indeed. In terms of crime, disruption of law and
order, social and personal misery and waste of resources, the radical
ideology of the "drug-free world" is causing society an immense amount of harm.

While hundreds of thousands are incarcerated throughout the world, ruining
the lives of millions of people, 8 percent of international trade now
consists of illegal drugs, and entire nations are destabilized.

Thanks to drug prohibition, which is a policy grounded in cultural fears
rather than sincere concern for public well-being, the dividing line
between the decent world and the illegal underworld cuts right across
society. The world's most vulnerable populatons are touched most intensely:
youth culture, minorities.

Harry Bego, Utrecht, the Netherlands