RETHINK DRUG POLICY

All the attention focused on whether George W. Bush has ever used drugs
seems like a waste of time. We would do better to concern ourselves with
what Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico has to say. He calls the war on drugs
a "miserable failure" and urges debate on decriminalization of drugs.

We spend $50 billion a year trying to eradicate drugs. The Drug Enforcement
Administration estimates that we capture less than 10 percent of all
illicit drugs. Does $50 billion a year for a failure rate of 90 percent
seem like a good investment?

Trying to prohibit anything widely desired in a free society is impossible.
We might not like it, but the fact remains that people use drugs. And the
only way to eradicate drug use in America is the complete loss of
individual rights. That's too high a price to pay.

The war on drugs has blighted lives, jammed prisons, intensified racism,
caused needless deaths and is responsible for the steady erosion of our
constitutional rights. The time is long overdue for an honest discussion of
drug policy alternatives.

Ken Krug
Butler