WAGING WAR AGAINST OPIUM IN AFGHANISTAN WON'T WORK

Re the June 11 Other Views column Eradicate poppy fields, terror funding,
by Robert Weiner and Jeffrey Buchanan: Cutting off the drug supply in
Afghanistan is easier said than done. Attempts to limit the supply of drugs
while demand remains constant only increases the profitability of drug
trafficking. Afghanistan profits from heroin trafficking because of drug
prohibition, not in spite of it.

The U.S. drug war funds organized crime at home and terrorism abroad.
The various armed factions waging civil war in Colombia are
financially dependent on America's drug war. In the United States, the
drug war's distortion of immutable laws of supply and demand make weed
like marijuana literally worth its weight in gold.

European countries are embracing harm reduction, a public-health
alternative based on the principle that both drug abuse and
prohibition have the potential to cause harm. Examples include
needle-exchange programs to stop the spread of HIV, marijuana
regulation aimed at separating the hard and soft drug markets and
treatment alternatives that do not require incarceration as a
prerequisite.

Fear of appearing soft on crime compels U.S. politicians to support a
failed drug war that ultimately subsidizes organized crime. Drug abuse
is bad, but the drug war is worse.

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