U.S. HAS SPENT BILLIONS BUT STILL IS LOSING DRUG WAR

The Dec. 1 story "Report questions effect of drug war, cites low
street prices" minimizes the effectiveness of the decades-long war on
drugs with good reason. After pumping $1 billion a year into Plan
Colombia to reduce cocaine on the street, the White House must face
the fact that cocaine now is 14 percent cheaper than in 2002. Heroin
- thanks to renewed production in Afghanistan - dropped to $60 a
gram in 2003 from $329 in 1981.

A 1994 Rand study showed that spending $34 million on treatment
reduces cocaine use as much as spending $739 million on spraying or
$366 million on interdiction. These last two elements are major parts
of Plan Colombia.

Are we so addicted to turning our money and problems over to military
mismanagement that we refuse to treat the problem efficiently at its
source? If so, let's put military uniforms on drug counselors. We'll
see an immediate surge in expensive treatment programs appearing in
defense-department budget requests.

Robert Dollar, Miami