ADDICTION PROBLEMS

Re: "What Nerve -- Calderon's criticism of U.S. is
galling," Wednesday Editorial.

Our country is beset by persistent problems that seem to defy
solutions. But like spoiled children we blame the problems on others.
Take illegal immigration. Your editorial suggests that Mexico is
partially to blame because of its failure "to stem the flow of illegal
immigrants."

Be serious! Would our government intervene if millions of our citizens
decided to emigrate to Canada or Mexico? Most illegal immigrants come
for jobs, and we fail to punish employers who hire them. We, the
people, are addicted to cheap labor!

Consider illegal drugs. The root cause of our drug problem is not the
fact that bad people in Colombia produce cocaine and evil Mexicans
smuggle it into our country. We spend millions to fight the drug
supply but we do very little to fight the demand. We, the people, are
addicted to "recreational drugs."

As long as we fail to vigorously attack the root causes, our problems
will not go away. Let's apply a basic law of economics here: Eliminate
the demand and the supply will automatically disappear.

KLAUS WIERNER

Dallas