MAKE FIGHTING DRUG, ALCOHOL ABUSE A PRIORITY

The Sun-Times commentary by Joe Conason of Oct. 23 was a mixed
blessing. On the positive side, it brought attention to a subject
completely neglected during the presidential debates and by the media
in interviews with the candidates.

On the negative side, it was misleading. The writer proposes
abandoning control of illegal drugs and investing money elsewhere.
The result of that action would be more addiction, more crime and
much higher social and economic costs.

England tried this approach in the early 1970s and made heroin legal
and obtainable at pharmacies, with the objective of reducing heroin
imports and illegal sales.

The result was that heroin addicts did get a legal and non-lethal
dose from pharmacies, but then went out on the street to buy more
potent, illegally imported heroin, resulting in more overdose deaths and crime.

The British quickly abandoned this medical treatment approach.

Today, there are more new users of prescription drugs, using them
without a prescription illegally, than new users of marijuana.
Prescription drug abuse of pain-killers is the fastest growing drug
problem in the U.S., and it is the legal medical drugs that are being abused.

Illegal drugs like crack cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and
marijuana do have a dramatic impact on the brain and central nervous
system -- causing addiction, provoking aberrant behavior and causing
major damage to the brain, the lungs, acuity and the immune system.

We can have more effective use of our resources: increasing drug
courts, drug treatment and prevention; increasing the leverage of
federal, state and local law enforcement task forces and asset
forfeiture, and improving community and family awareness and intervention.

Let's hope that whoever wins the election on Tuesday will address the
problem of drug and alcohol abuse and put it on a priority agenda.

Peter B. Bensinger,

former administrator,

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration