TREATMENT WORKS

In the Sept. 20 issue of The Nation, Michael Massing says that the
RAND study you cite in your Jan. 17 editorial sought to compare the
effectiveness of four different types of drug control: source-control
programs (attacking the drug trade abroad), interdiction (stopping
drugs at the border), domestic law enforcement (arresting and
imprisoning buyers and sellers) and drug treatment.

How much additional money, RAND asked, would the government have to
spend on each approach to reduce national cocaine consumption by 1
percent?

The results were striking: "Treatment was found to be seven times more
cost-effective than law enforcement, 10 times more effective than
interdiction and 23 times more effective than attacking drugs at their
source."

But it seems large numbers of citizens would rather not think about
these findings.

Ignorance combined with a punitive mental make-up is all too
common.

It is the role of your newspaper to challenge this and to move our
society as a whole to an open examination of the issues, free from
opinions based on fear and ignorance.

And free of a selfrighteous moralism which will, if not challenged,
someday undo us. I commend you on your timely editorial.

RICK VISSER
Lyons