DRUG WAR IS A FAILURE

I'm writing about Dean Koldenhoven's letter: ''Pretty poppy is most obvious
weapon'' [June 10]. Ninety years ago, pure pharmaceutical-grade Bayer
heroin was legally sold in local pharmacies for about the same price as
Bayer aspirin.

Ninety years ago, we had about 1.8 percent of our population addicted to
drugs, according to federal Judge John Kane of Colorado.

Today, after 90 years of drug criminalization, and transforming the former
''Land of Liberty'' into the most incarcerated nation on the planet and in
history, we still have about 1.8 percent of our population addicted to drugs.

Ninety years ago, the term ''drug-related crime'' didn't exist. Neither did
drug lords nor drug cartels. These were all created by our drug prohibition
policies, not drugs.

Ninety years ago, deaths from recreational drugs were very rare. That's
because the drugs were of known quality, known purity and known potency.

Today, recreational drugs are untaxed, unregulated, controlled by criminal
gangs and supporting international terrorists.

It's time to end this insanity.

Kirk Muse, Mesa, Ariz.