DRUG WAR AT HOME

To the Editor:

Re "U.S. Official Proposes $1 Billion for Colombia Drug War" (news article,
July 17):

Drug production abroad is irrelevant if it does not lead to a decrease in
illicit drug use in the United States.

No credible evidence of a link between the two ever been presented. To the
contrary, the occasional "success" in one drug-producing area has simply
caused production (and profits) to increase elsewhere.

In fact, according to your article, the net result in drug eradication
efforts so far in Colombia has been a 25 percent increase in the acreage
devoted to growing drugs there.

On the other hand, money spent on addiction has been shown consistently to
be cost effective in saving the lives of those who get help.

Unfortunately, about 85 percent of drug users in the United States have no
access to treatment.

ROBERT G NEWMAN , M.D.
New York, July 20, 1999
The writer is president of Continuum Helaht Partners.