COSTLY DRUG WAR

A reader wondered in the June 8 Opinion Line how much it was costing
taxpayers to fly Ronald Reagan's body across the nation twice.

I wonder how the reader feels about the billions of our dollars being
spent on the greatest public policy failure in our nation's history.
The policy is known as the war on drugs, but today, more than three
decades since it began, illicit drugs are cheaper, more potent and
more easily obtained than ever.

According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, federal
spending on the drug war in 2001 totaled $18 billion, rising to $19
billion for 2003. At this rate, a $20 billion annual budget to
continue this disastrous policy can't be far away.

I wonder how much longer taxpayers will continue to tolerate this
outrageous waste of their money -- while our schools crumble and
people are dying because they can't afford to live.

Cheryl Riley

Wichita