STOP THE DRUG WAR BEFORE IT DOES MORE DAMAGE

In The Sun's April 28 article "The straight dope" Jill Jones, curator of
the Drug Enforcement Administration's museum, noted that we are
experiencing a drug epidemic. She takes the view that we have had heavy
drug use before and the present epidemic will be quelled.

But at what cost? In 1980, after an intitial escalation by President
Richard Nixon, the United States was spending less than $2 billion on the
drug war and fewer than 2,000 drug-related deaths occurred. In 1998, after
further escalations by Presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton, the cost was
approximately $17 billion and 14,000 drug-related deaths.

Escalating the drug war has been counterproductive. Alcohol abuse is
destructive, but we repealed Prohibition because it caused even more harm.
Drug prohibition shares many of the same problems as alcohol prohibition.

The drug war has corrupted law enforcement, eroded constitutional freedoms,
generated a thriving criminal black market and criminalized the casual user
and the abuser alike while a steady supply of drugs reaches our youth.

We should treat drug abuse as a public health problem instead of further
escalating the drug war.

Kevin Fansler
Havre de Grace, MD