NARCOTIC DRUGS: DON'T FOLLOW US IN THE US!

SIR-- I am writing about the article "Strengthen law on drug trafficking,
leaders say" in The New Vision of June 19. It appears that Uganda is about
to follow the path of the United States in its battle against drugs. Well,
don't do it. The US drug policy has been an absolute disaster. The US has
increased its drug enforcement budget by a whopping 29,500 percent in the
past 33 years. The net result: anybody in the US who wants drugs can still
get them -- just as easily as in 1969. No matter how much money we throw at
the problem, we cannot nullify the basic economic law of demand and supply.
As long as people want recreational drugs, and they are willing to pay a
substantial price for the drugs, somebody will produce the drugs and
somebody will get the drugs to the willing buyers. My advice to Uganda is:
observe US drug policy -- then do the opposite. Don't follow us -- we're
lost.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, AZ