DEAD WRONG ON DRUG WAR

Deroy Murdock is dead wrong ("Wrong War, Wrong Drugs," Opinion, May 7) when
he argues that "adults should be free to stimulate, fortify or medicate
themselves as they wish, so long as they respect the rights and safety of
others."

About 8 percent of the U.S. population engages in regular drug abuse.
However, this small minority cost the rest of us dearly - from increased
crime and health-care costs, danger on the highways, environmental
contamination, decreased productivity, lost human potential and family
breakdown.

Perhaps Murdock and the American public would be interested to know the
following:

* Two-thirds of arrestees test positive for drugs.

* Forty-five percent of reckless drivers not impaired by alcohol test
positive for marijuana.

* One-third of AIDS cases are drug-related. Emergency room visits resulting
from the abuse of narcotic pain relievers have increased 163 percent since
1995.

Stopping steroid abuse is not just about the integrity of our national
pastimes, it's about giving children a healthy future.

Abuse of anabolic steroids puts our kids at risk of heart disease, liver
cancer, depression, stunted growth, eating disorders, hostility and aggression.

Drug abuse is like a tax on every American family - a tax that averages
$1,500 a year.

Worse than the financial cost, though, is the human cost.

Here in New York, an 8-year-old Brooklyn boy, DeShawn Hill, was killed a
few months ago when he was caught in the middle of a turf battle for the
"rights" to sell a dime bag of marijuana.

In a nation increasingly concerned about the second-hand effects of
cigarette smoke, we must finally come to grips with the truth that drug
abuse is not a victimless crime.

Anthony Placido Drug Enforcement Administration New York Field Division
Manhattan