EXIT STRATEGY FOR THE COSTLY, INEFFECTIVE WAR ON DRUGS

Messrs. Shultz and Volcker are right that the "war on drugs" is a
colossal failure, but simply decriminalizing possession while leaving
sales illegal, as they suggest as a possible way forward, is not the
answer.

As long as there is no above-ground and regulated mechanism for
consumers to acquire the drugs they seek, the cartels and gangs that
profit from today's illegal trade will continue to thrive, ensuring
grizzly violence in order to protect their share of the black market.

Recall that during alcohol prohibition, simple possession and use were
essentially decriminalized. It wasn't until we legalized and regulated
the sale of booze that gangsters were stripped of the motive to kill
one another - and in some cases, policemen - over alcohol profits.

Unless and until we end the prohibition on today's illegal drugs,
countless lives will be lost in a violent underground market that no
level of law enforcement skill or commitment can make disappear. Only
legalization can do that.

Norm Stamper

Eastsound, Wash.

(Mr. Stamper, a speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition,
served as Seattle's chief of police from 1994 to 20