DO THE OPPOSITE

Sir: Reading the papers recently, it appears that Pakistan is about to
follow the path of the United States in its battle against illegal drugs.

If I may offer some advice: Don't do it. The US anti-narcotics policy
has been an absolute, total disaster. The US has increased its
anti-drugs budget by a whopping 29,500 percent in the past thirty-six
years.

The net results: Illegal drugs are just as available in the US today
as they were in 1969.

However, in the process, the United States has become the most
incarcerated nation in the history of human civilisation. Even though
the US has less than five percent of the world's population, we have
more than twenty-five percent of the world's prisoners. In other
words, one out of every four prisoners in the world is locked in an
American jail or prison.

Attempting to limit the supply of a desired product just makes that
product more profitable. And no product can be eliminated or its
exchange reduced, by making it more profitable. The immutable law of
supply and demand cannot be nullified through legislation. My advice
to Pakistan and the rest of the world is to carefully observe US
anti-narcotics policies -- then do the opposite.

Don't follow us -- were lost.

Kirk Muse

USA