DID WE LEARN NOTHING FROM PROHIBITION ERA?

Ms. O'Grady believes we should "face honestly all the costs of
prohibition" of narcotics, as do I. OK, let's begin:

The DEA's annual budget is $2 billion. Is it effective? Its own Web
site describes its results as "adequate" while stating that "The Drug
Enforcement Administration is unable to demonstrate its impact on the
availability of drugs in the U.S."

The cost of incarcerating drug offenders nationwide is also estimated
in the billions. Is it worth it? See the above statement from the DEA.
Perhaps the largest cost, which cannot be quantified, arises from the
sheer hypocrisy of our actions in countries such as Bolivia, Colombia
and Afghanistan, where we spend more billions trying to prevent local
growers from raising cash crops that they well know are ultimately
consumed right here. What must they think of us?

Did we learn nothing from the failure of Prohibition in the
1920s?

Ted Levy

Weston, Conn.