A FUTILE DRUG WAR

To the Editor:

Re "U.S. Antidrug Plan to Aid Colombia Faces Skepticism" (front page, Feb. 6):

Too much money is spent on fruitless attempts to stop the production of
illicit drugs. Along with most interdiction and enforcement strategies,
such efforts have long since proved themselves to be ineffective. No matter
how much money is thrown at initiatives trying to stem the supply, there
will always be enough illicit drugs available to perpetuate the epidemic of
drug use.

Spending just $1 on treatment now would save $11 in societal costs over
time. It is time to change the balance of federal spending to allocate more
money for treatment and education to reduce demand and to curtail wasted
spending on hopeless efforts to quash the supply of illicit drugs from
outside our borders.

Hillel Hirshbein, Ann Arbor, Mich., Feb. 6, 2000