Dear Editor,

I note that you are working in conjunction with local law enforcement
and legislative authorities to tackle the latest drug menace - Ecstasy.

And of course we are going to do it the way it has always been done -
make the penalties harsher until the problem goes away. Unfortunately
there was no examination of the effectiveness of the proposed remedies
in your article.

Lets examine two areas where this policy has been applied and see the
results.

We have tried this policy with heroin for the last twenty years or so
- the result? Heroin prices are lower than ever, heroin purity is
higher than ever, it is more available to children, there are more
addicts than ever and deaths are up.

We have tried this policy with cocaine for the last twenty years or so
- the result? Cocaine prices are lower than ever, cocaine purity is
higher than ever, it is more available to children, there are more
addicts than ever and deaths are up.

Here we have two major failures of this policy so we are going to do
it again?

Is this a joke or a government program?

Michael Simon,
Rockford