TREAT THIS EPIDEMIC

As a recovered abuser of methamphetamine, I'd like to humbly rebut claims
from John Walters [White House director of drug control policy] that
actions taken to date at the federal level will have any significant impact
against the illegal amphetamine trade ("Meeting the challenge of the meth
epidemic," Oct. 10).

Walters acknowledges the vast majority of current meth trafficking
originates south of the U.S. border.

When we consider that federal drug enforcement over the past 35 years
against smuggled drugs has been an abysmal failure, we can recognize that
any purported plans to impede smuggling of methamphetamine are simply
federal smoke-blowing.

The obscene profits created by 21st-century drug Prohibition ensure that
there will always be fresh dealers to replace those arrested.

The urgent priority should be to reduce demand for methamphetamine. We need
to transfer the money used to incarcerate drug abusers into programs that
allow treatment for any drug abuser who wants it.

Stephen Heath

Media relations, Florida office Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Clearwater, Fla.