FIND BETTER WAY ON DRUG ISSUE

The Chronicle's March 31 editorial, "Not Vietnam; Colombia needs, deserves
well-aimed U.S. aid program," encouraged passing the aid package to
Colombia, which is now in the Senate for approval. As is frequently the case
with any cause associated with drugs, the Chronicle mixes apples and
oranges.

On the one hand, there is a civil war in Colombia, which has raged for 40
years.

On the other hand, there are some entrepreneurs, now called drug lords, who
have taken advantage of a foolhardy U.S. policy of drug prohibition.

By creating a black market for a product for which there is a demand, our
government has enabled those willing to take risks to make obscene profits.

None of us may agree with the source of this demand, but is the drug
hysteria so blinding that we believe that by destroying crops in Colombia we
will have an impact on the drug usage here?

In the editorial, the Chronicle acknowledged that we spend upwards of $40
billion a year prosecuting the war against drugs and imprison half a million
of our citizens, while cocaine and heroin still remain plentiful.

Drug-related violence has declined, but the number of drug abusers has not,
which proves there must be a better way to address our drug problem.

Ken Salzman, Houston