THE DRUG CZAR'S JOURNEY RESULTED IN EMBARRASSMENT

Re: "America's drug warrior -- McCaffrey commits truth during European
tour," (Editorial, July 24).
Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey is a "stand-up guy" only in the many comic
gaffes he committed in relation to his European "fact-finding tour":

He pronounced the Netherlands drug policy an "unmitigated disaster"
before he had even set foot in the country, much less been presented
with evidence of their many successes.

He proclaimed the Netherlands a much more violent country than the
United States, citing an erroneous murder rate as "proof." "That's
drugs" he said.

When it was pointed out that the murder rate in the United States is
actually 4.5 times higher than in the Netherlands, he gave no
consideration to their nonviolent, nonpunitive, police managed
soft-drug policy or medically managed hard-drug policy as positive
factors. Rather he credited everything from the quality of public
education to health care coverage. Drug policy couldn't possibly be a
factor for our country being more violent.

In the wake of McCaffrey's trip, the Dutch press pronounced U.S. drug
policy an "unmitigated disaster." And to our embarrassment, our drug
czar had given them ample evidence.

LYNN CAROL
San Diego
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It is interesting that your newspaper's respect for McCaffrey had led
to your emulating his strategy for drug use prevention: contorting the
facts until they say what he wants them to say. Believe it or not, the
countries with the harshest anti-marijuana laws also have the highest
percentage of young users; Ireland is the best example, where
marijuana use among teens is almost three times that of Holland.

You refer to McCaffrey as a "real leader," when in fact he is a man
desperately fighting a losing war on drugs which has led him to using
increasingly ridiculous "statistics" to get his message across, a
message that only gets harder to swallow when it is delivered by a man
who is a liar.

DEVIN SHOECRAFT
San Diego
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In your editorial in which McCaffrey is praised for his gutsy put-down
of the Netherlands for its drug policies, a statement is made that
teen use of marijuana is up 100 percent, and teen use of cocaine,
heroin and LSD is up 150 percent; we're talking here of drug use in
the United States, not in the Netherlands. If our own drug policies
produce such a miserable result, how can we so smugly put down the
policies of another country?

R.E. MOSELEY
San Diego
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There are few papers in the country that could be so uninformed or
purposely misleading as to call Drug Czar McCaffrey's trip to Holland
a success. To insinuate that McCaffrey "committed truth" is not only
wildly inaccurate but supports the general for getting his facts
wrong. In virtually every category, the Dutch have shown that their
policies are superior to ours. That McCaffrey was roundly criticized
for his numerous inaccuracies by Dutch officials, and for this paper
to report otherwise, not only flies in the face of facts but puts a
complete reverse spin on what most papers accurately reported as at
least a blunder by McCaffrey.

MARK GREER
Porterville
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It seems that Robert Scheer's article on the drug war, "Fighting a
drug war with bad statistics" (Opinion, July 24), cites statistics
while your editorial states, "McCaffrey commits truth." I recall a
professor at Cal State Northridge stating, "If you want facts, study
mathematics; if you want truth, study philosophy." I believe it's all
about money, and while there is nothing proprietary about marijuana,
there is no money to be made. On the other hand, alcohol produces
taxes, profits, violence, medical bills, premature death, spousal
abuse, divorce, attorney fees, thousands of highway fatalities, etc.

Say no to drugs; say yes to booze!

BRAD LARSON
Oceanside
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Your unbelievable endorsement of Barry McCaffrey's trashing of simple
truth before, during and after his recent European junket confirms my
long-held suspicion that your anonymous editorial writer(s) are as
contemptuous of truth as McCaffrey himself, or, for that matter,
Joseph Goebbels. In their cases, however, at least their names are
known.

THOMAS J. O'CONNELL, M.D.
San Mateo

Checked-by: "Rich O'Grady"