THE WRONG APPROACH

We at the Drug Policy Forum of Texas take strong exception to your recent
editorial "The Main Thing." You may disagree with us fairly without
misrepresenting our intent and our message.

After more than 30 years of massive spending increases on prisons and
trying to stop the supply of drugs, our nation and our children are worse
off than when we began. Our policies have benefited criminals, bureaucrats
and special interests, but not the people.

For decades, the public discourse has been dominated by one side. The
scientific community has been ignored and excluded from a nonexistent
debate. We are determined that the mythology and rhetoric about drugs be
replaced with scientific facts and expert opinion for the public to evaluate.

Our agenda is to initiate the process of change through examination, not to
dictate any final answer. We know that the Star-Telegram generally favors
democratic discussion and debate, and our decision to finally introduce
these into the arena of drug policy should not be characterized as a
"sideshow."

Please remember that in the end, we all have the same goal. DPFT simply
does not believe that more of the same is going to get us there. Our
children deserve better.

Jerry Epstein, president
Drug Policy Forum of Texas
Houston

Checked-by: Richard Lake