SOME TRUTH ABOUT DRUGS

In his Jan. 19 letter, Gen. Barry McCaffrey claims that "our purpose is to
communicate truthful messages about drug use and the benefits of living
drug free."

In a 1996 Scientific American special issue on cancer, Kathleen Foley,
then-professor of neurology at Cornell, states: "The years of antidrug
campaigns have left both the public and health care professionals with
greatly exaggerated fears about the risks of opioids, which are still the
most effective known painkillers."

With Gen. McCaffrey's approach to educating the public, cancer patients are
another group who must needlessly suffer. Where are the government
sponsored "truthful messages" about that?

Ken Sweeney, California, Md.