DRUG USE

Columnist Steve Chapman correctly pointed out the absurdity of U.S.
fears that a mildly liberalized Mexican drug law would lead to an
epidemic of drug use ("The false threat of liberal drug laws,"
Commentary, May 18), but he omitted a noteworthy fact about the
Netherlands:

By permitting sale of marijuana to adults through
licensed merchants, the Dutch have broken the "gateway" between
marijuana and hard drugs. Not only are Dutch marijuana use rates
lower than in the U.S., Dutch use of hard drugs is just a tiny
fraction of ours, according to official government surveys.

For example, 14.2 percent of Americans have used cocaine, while in the
Netherlands the figure is just 3.6 percent. Our rate of heroin use is
also triple that of the Netherlands.

If U.S. drug warriors want to
curb use of the most dangerous substances, they should be encouraging
Dutch-style reforms rather than trying to thwart any experiments with
more sensible policies.

Bruce Mirken, Director of Communications

Marijuana Policy Project

Washington