CAMPBELL'S DRUG PLAN

Editor -- No one can claim that the ``War on Drugs'' has been a
success. The federal government has forced the dealers to alter their
drug routes, while locking up thousands of users.

Still, the flow of drugs continues to threaten our
society.

Rep. Tom Campbell has suggested that local control might be the
answer. (Debra Saunders' column, February 8). Campbell recognizes that
different locales have different needs and require different solutions.

Why not allow a city to distribute drugs to users as has been done
successfully in Switzerland? It would take away both the profit for
the dealer, and the motivation for a user to commit crime to pay for
their habit. Allowing local communities to devise their own drug
control programs might not be the answer, but we'll never know unless
we'd give it try. All we have to lose are the dealers and their gangs.

COLLEEN S. CASEY
San Francisco