CRYING WOLF ABOUT METH ABUSE?

To the Editor:

John Tierney has taken the drug war out of the realm of emotion and
placed it solidly where it really belongs, on the cost-benefit scale.

A study (if there isn't one already) would be a good first step, no
doubt proving that the price of running drugs off the street has meant
ruined lives and hemorrhaged police and corrections budgets, far
exceeding any gain from addiction prevention.

Mr. Tierney has provided a frame that politicians could confidently
work from to bring sanity into this drug war, which has likely
destroyed many more lives than it has saved.

Keith R. Schmitz

Shorewood, Wis., Aug. 9, 2005