DRUG PROBLEM

* Sergio Munoz's interview (Opinion, Nov. 7) with Colombia's new president,
Andres Pastrana, was interesting because of a question that was not asked.
Maybe next time around he could ask the following: "Mr. President, you are
asking for roughly $2 billion from the United States to help put an end to
this tragedy called drug trafficking. Given the ineffectiveness of
anti-trafficking programs in the past, how do you feel about drug
legalization as a means of ending the drug war?"

The answer would give us a clue as to whether the man is serious about
decisively ending the drug war, or if he is, or has the potential to be,
just another spokesman for the drug cartels.

Paul Skophammer, Malibu