IS THE DRUG WAR WORKING, OR WORSE THAN THE DISEASE? (2 of 4)

We have 5% of the world's population and now use 60% of the world's
drugs. That's certainly not winning this deadly war.

The drug war kills far more people than drugs kill. We're also now
exporting our drug war murders, with more than 4,000 Mexicans killed
this year alone.

Another of Mr. Walters untruths is the repeated threat that there will
be "millions of new cocaine, heroin or marijuana users." This is just
more fear-mongering and is totally unsubstantiated. The Netherlands
has three decades of regulation, control and taxation and has
one-fifth our hard drug use and one-half our marijuana use, which is
really irrelevant as no one has ever died from marijuana, but 2,000
college students die from alcohol annually in the U.S.

Let's stop the Office of National Drug Control Policy lies that we're
winning this war. It's time to end the drug war deaths, the lies and
corruption, and learn the lesson of Prohibition: Legalization is much
safer and cheaper for all of us, especially our children.

STEPHEN H. FRYE, M.D.

Retired Professor

UNR School of Medicine

Reno, Nev.