WHO'S REALLY PROFITING

AUTHOR SANHO TREE ("The War at Home") clearly articulates the failure of the
so-called "war on drugs" from the perspective of the drug user and the drug
supplier. But the drug suppliers and distributors are not the only groups
reaping profits from our misguided drug war. Let's not forget the DEA and a
vast array of other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and
bureaucracies that profit from the huge budgets devoted to this effort.

Let's also not forget the vast police powers that have been granted to these
agencies. Many of our once-cherished protections against illegal search and
seizure have been set aside in the prosecution of this so-called war. About the
only group that has not profited from this massive flow of dollars is the drug
users who have seen budgets for drug treatment at every level cut again and
again to levels that have left treatment centers struggling for survival.

Delwin Fandrich

Hoquiam, Washington