THE DUTCH ANSWER

Editor -- I read with interest your amusing story, ``New U.S. Drug
Control Strategy Sets Goals,'' in which ``Czar of Drugs'' General
Barry McCaffrey expresses the hope that the new, improved ``War on
Drugs'' will reduce the ``drug problem'' by 50 percent by the year
2007.

The Dutch have recently released the results of a study on their
people's drug usage. In real numbers, their rate of ``drug use'' now
stands at half that of the U.S. rate. The Dutch are, of course, one of
the many advanced nations that have legalized the use of marijuana.

For more fun and astonishing facts regarding this issue, your readers
might visit the marijuananews.com site.

LEE EISENSTEIN
Watsonville