WAR ON DRUGS INEFFECTIVE

Re: the war on drugs.

I was a heroin addict for about 25 years and am now clean and attending my
third year of college. During all of my years of addiction, I was never
unable to locate my drug of choice. Furthermore, I never met anyone who
didn't use drugs because they couldn't locate any.

If it were not for the media, I would not have guessed there was a "war on
drugs," except for an occasional police officer being a brief nuisance. The
point I am trying to make is that we are flushing billions of dollars down
the proverbial drain trying to fight this war.

The drug cartels are just like any major business and there is a certain
cost of doing business. They most likely write off 10 percent or so before
shipment ever takes place. In essence, what we are doing is creating very
expensive products (marijuana, heroin, and cocaine) and the drug cartels are
happy as hell about it.

If we can't keep drugs out of a maximum security prison, and believe me we
can't, what would make anyone in his or her right mind think we can keep
drugs away from our borders?

I think we need to develop some backbone by creating strong, strict and
focused international policies and stick to them. I don't pretend to have
the answers or know the solution, but one thing is for sure. What we are
doing isn't working.

Spence Berry