FOOLISH DRUG WAR

I'm writing about Rafael Lemaitre's not-so-thoughtful Sept. 23 letter,
"Plan Colombia a clear success."

Lemaitre and his boss, U.S. drug czar John Walters, are both essentially
cheerleaders for the drug-war bureaucracy. Their goal, like the goal of all
bureaucrats, is expanding their bureaucracy. I'd like to add that if Plan
Colombia had exceeded all expectations and all of the cocaine in Colombia
had been eliminated, it would not affect the supply of cocaine or any other
drugs reaching the United States.

As long as people want recreational drugs and are willing to pay a
substantial price for them, somebody will produce them and somebody else
will get them to the buyers. This is guaranteed. We cannot keep illegal
drugs out of our highest-security jails and prisons, so how can we
reasonably expect to keep illegal drugs out of our country, with its
thousands of miles of coastline and thousands of miles of international
borders? The obvious answer is that we cannot.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.