DRUG CORRUPTION REACHES PUBLIC OFFICIALS

Re: "Texas border vulnerable in drug war, DEA chief reports - Threat of
corruption, violence high as traffic shifts from Colombia to Mexico," Sept.
24.

Lest anyone missed this quote from Thomas Constantine, head of the Drug
Enforcement Administration, in your fine article: "Criminal organizations
know no boundaries. Crime pays for them. If the price of gaining more
wealth means corrupting or killing public officials, the kind of corruption
we see in Mexico will likely spread across the border into the United
States."

It already has, Tom, long ago. And it's growing rapidly. Maybe Tom should
talk to the FBI, whose report said the number of our officials in federal
prisons has increased fivefold in four years (1994 to 1998). Or the
Government Accounting Office, whose report said that over 50 percent of
convicted officers were involved in drug-related corruption (1993 to 1997).
It's an enhanced echo of one of many reasons that Grammaw and Grampaw
switched sides and repealed Prohibition.

"We've found that the most successful way is to attack the organizations
through their leaders," Mr. Constantine said. Excuse me, how would he know?
We've never had any success. The countries and leaders change, and the
level of violence increases and so does the drug flow. Illegal drug
addiction is up over 20 percent in 29 years, drugs are in every school, and
street prices have plunged.

It's time for us to switch too. Our children deserve better. The obviously
out-of-control illegal drug market must be replaced by a regulated and
restricted market.

JERRY EPSTEIN, President, Drug Policy Forum of Texas, Houston


Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson