LTE #2
DRUG INTERDICTION IS WORTHLESS: ENDING THE DRUG WAR COULD DEFUSE A DANGEROUS
SITUATION

Kudos for your story ``The color of suspicion'' (Commentary, Aug. 1). It was
excellent and balanced. Two questions were not addressed. The first is that
while it very well may be true that the majority of drug runners are black
and Latino, they are running it to a market made up mostly of whites -
upper-and middle-class whites at that. Why should society get excited about
their burning their brains out on drugs? They know very well the
consequences of their action.

Running drugs is a crime only because society says it is so. There is
nothing inherently criminal in buying, selling or distributing substances
that are not healthy or wise to consume. That's how some of America's finest
families got their start.

Gerald M. Sutliff, Emeryville, Calif.