TIME TO END THE OTHER WAR

Sandee Enriquez raised a great question about our "other wars"
(Letters, Dec. 10). With all the debate on this page over the Iraq
war, silence regarding the war on drugs is rather baffling. Then,
maybe not, politics being as it is.

If one unequivocal thing can be said about the war in Iraq, it is
this: Our three-year mission in Iraq is clearly more successful and
justified than our 35-year-old war on drugs. For one thing, our drug
war costs the lives of 15 times more Americans each year than the war
in Iraq. The war on drugs kills more people than illegal drugs kill
people. That may sound stupid, but you read it correctly -- it is stupid.

Drug prohibition not only breeds death, but disease, crime,
corruption, injustice and human suffering. This is not hyperbole, it
aptly describes the war on drugs. Word limit prevents in-depth
discussion here, but interested readers with access to a computer
will find compelling arguments and data to support each of the above
allegations at the following noncommercial Web site:
www.libertylinkusa.com/id18.html

GRANT KUHNS

Carlsbad