DRUGS

In his July 24 column ("Drug war is a failure, so let's experiment"),
Jason Lewis quotes me as saying that "in the grand scheme, it [the
'war on drugs'] has not been successful."

I have long believed that we cannot simply arrest our way out of our
drug problem. The "war on drugs" rhetoric represents an overly
simplistic approach to a complex public health and public safety problem.

However, it is just as simplistic -- and just as misguided -- to
think that decriminalization is the solution to America's drug
problem. Lewis refers to the Global Commission on Drug Policy, an
advocacy group that recently called for the decriminalization of all
illegal drugs.

While it is tempting to think that decriminalization offers a simple
solution, the facts tell us otherwise.

A recent report by the Department of Justice's National Drug
Intelligence Center about the economic impact of illicit drug use
indicates that the annual cost of illicit drug use on health care and
productivity alone amount to more than $80 billion.

Making illicit drugs legal -- and therefore more accessible -- would
not reduce any of these costs to our society. Lewis presents his
readers with a false choice: Either accept the old "war on drugs"
approach or embrace decriminalization.

The president's national strategy on drugs treats the problem with
the seriousness it deserves, addressing a complex issue through a
balanced public health and public safety approach.

GIL KERLIKOWSKE, WASHINGTON, D.C.

The writer is director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy.