DRUG WAR

A May 23 letter writer's assertion that the Colombian woman with the bomb
around her neck is proof that taking drugs is not a victimless crime misses
the point. It's not our desire for drugs that causes this violence but the
war on drugs that does.

Isn't it obvious that when you make something illegal some people will
become the suppliers of it? It's called the black market and it doesn't have
any rules. The people who work in it are already breaking the law, so who
can be surprised that they are willing to use deadly force to protect
themselves from arrest, eliminate competition, make a dollar, etc.

The real reckoning will be when we admit that the war on drugs is a horrible
failure. If people want to use drugs they should be allowed to.

RYAN HUPKA, Santa Ana