CHUVALO'S MISSION "DOOMED"

He's Been "Deceived" By Anti-Drug "Propaganda"

It is distressing to see someone as well-intentioned as George Chuvalo
engaged in a mission that is doomed to be largely self-defeating.

Like so many others, he has been deceived by a steady diet over the
last 25 years of obfuscation, half-truths and down-right lies on the
part of the prohibition lobby - a self-serving clique of police, press
and politicians.

The success of their propaganda campaign can be plainly seen in the
Chuvalo story. George believes it was heroin that caused successive
family tragedies.

Wrong.

The science is that life-long addiction to heroin and the opiates
causes no observable deleterious effects. It is not heroin that
causes addict fatalities. It is prohibition.

Prohibition means there is no regulation of the product. Therefore,
street heroin is adulterated heroin of uncertain strength and purity
that can cause death.

Pat Dolan, Vancouver

George Chuvalo lost three children to drugs and now wants to campaign
for the war on drugs. The drug war failed to keep them from becoming
addicted, and then failed to save them once they became addicted. The
obvious question that comes to mind is: Why does Mr. Chuvalo
vigorously support a drug war which failed to save his own children?

Isn't it time we all recognized the drug war for the massive failure
that it is, and thought about Plan B?

Clifford Schaffer, Canyon Country, Calif.

Mr. Chuvalo does not "support the war on drugs."

Rather, he has embarked on a crusade to warn kids about the dangers of
drug use. There is a big difference.

The war on drugs in the U.S. is a war, and its objective is
abstinence. It can't be won but is being fought as if it can. As it
erodes our freedom, it allows - even causes - drug deaths to increase
dramatically.

Drug warriors in the U.S. - who have persuaded the people that
coercion will work - are so desperate to reduce drug use they point to
the well-intended crusade of Mr. Chuvalo because it provides them cover.

Your story suggests coercion is synonymous with Mr. Chuvalo's crusade,
and nothing could be further from the truth.

John Chase, Palm Harbor, Fla.