BUSH DRUG POLICY TARGETS WRONG ASPECT

Regarding Sen. Jay Rockefeller's thoughtful April 27 column, not only
has President Bush cut funding for the domestic war on
methamphetamine, but the Bush administration continues to wage an
international drug war that stands to boost meth production.

Plan Colombia is the equivalent of throwing good money after bad. U.S.
tax dollars would be better spent addressing the socioeconomic causes
of civil strife in Colombia rather than applying overwhelming military
force to attack the symptoms.

We're not doing the Colombian people any favors by funding civil war.
Nor are Americans being protected from drugs.

Destroy the Colombian coca crop and production will boom in Peru,
Bolivia and Ecuador.

Destroy every last plant in South America and domestic methamphetamine
production will increase to meet the demand for cocaine-like drugs.

The self-professed champions of the free market in the Bush
administration are seemingly incapable of applying basic economic
principles to drug policy. Instead of wasting scarce resources waging
a futile supply-side drug war abroad, we should be funding
cost-effective drug treatment here at home.

Robert Sharpe

Policy analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.