DRUG-WAR VIOLENCE

Re Michael Shifter's Aug. 19 Other Views column, Help Mexico with costs of
the drug war: Just like alcohol prohibition gave rise to Al Capone, drug
prohibition created the violent drug-trafficking organizations blamed for
all the killing in Mexico. With alcohol prohibition repealed in the United
States, liquor bootleggers no longer gun each other down in drive-by shootings.

Mexico's recent upsurge in violence began after an anti-drug crackdown
created a power vacuum among competing cartels. From a political
perspective, Mexican President Felipe Calderon stands to benefit from the
violence. The drug war is perpetuated by the mainstream media's complicity
in refusing to put so-called ''drug-related'' crime in context. U.S.
politicians have proven particularly adept at confusing the drug war's
collateral damage with drugs themselves.

Drug prohibition funds organized crime at home and terrorism abroad, which
are used to justify increase drug-war spending. It's time to end this
madness. Drugs are here to stay. Changing human nature is not an option.
We've been trying that for decades. Reforming harmful drug laws, however,
is an option that Congress should pursue.

ROBERT SHARPE, policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, D.C.