SAY NO TO US DRUG INQUISITION

The US State Department's recent assessment of Taiwan's cooperation in the
drug war is a clear indicator that the US government uses its superpower
status to export a dangerous moral crusade around the globe ("US reports on
laundering crimes, drugs in Taiwan," Mar. 3, page 4). The
tough-on-some-drugs approach is a proven failure.

Consider the experience of the former land of the free and current record
holder in citizens incarcerated. Police searches on public transit,
drug-sniffing dogs in schools, and random drug testing have led to a loss
of civil liberties in the US, while failing miserably at preventing drug use.

Based on finds that criminal records are inappropriate as health
interventions and ineffective as deterrents, a majority of EU countries
have decriminalized marijuana. Despite marijuana prohibition and perhaps
because of forbidden fruit appeal, lifetime use of marijuana is higher in
the US than any European country.

The drug war is in large part a war on marijuana, by far the most popular
illicit drug. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an
overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco.
Unfortunately, marijuana represents the counterculture to misguided
reactionaries intent on legislating their version of morality. Taiwan
should follow the lead of Europe and "just say no" to the American inquisition.

Robert Sharpe

Washington