FIND MIDDLE GROUND FOR SUCCESS IN DRUG WAR

A USA TODAY article described an aggressive criminal organization in Puerto
Rico that sold nearly $1 billion worth of drugs annually throughout the
nation (''Violence of Puerto Rican drug ring made busts a priority,'' News,
Friday). The arrest of 40 members is not necessarily comforting. While I'm
concerned that violent criminals are openly selling heroin and cocaine on
our streets, I'm even more disturbed that politicians are seemingly
incapable of learning from past mistakes.

Like Prohibition in the 1920s, the drug war is causing a great deal of
societal harm, with little to show for it.

When supply is limited and demand remains constant, drug trafficking
becomes more profitable. Granted, some bad people recently were arrested,
but with drug dealing made more profitable, someone inevitably will step in
to reap those profits.

Given the clampdown, the replacement gangsters will have to be more prone
to risk-taking and violence than the last. In the short term, prices are
higher, which means desperate addicts will increase criminal activity to
feed desperate habits.

The drug war effectively fuels crime while failing miserably to protect
children from drugs. There are no controls for age or quality in an
unregulated black market.

Am I suggesting that we just give up and legalize drugs? Contrary to what
drug warriors would have us believe, there is a middle ground between total
legalization and drug prohibition.

By registering hard-drug addicts and providing standardized doses in a
treatment setting, we could eliminate the public-health problems associated
with an unregulated market.

Organized crime would lose a lucrative client base, thereby rendering
illegal drug trafficking unprofitable. With the black market destroyed,
future generations would be spared the horror of addiction. The failed drug
war has wasted enough tax dollars. It's time to end it.

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