STOP THE DRUG WAR AND BOOST REVENUES

Mary O'Grady's Feb. 14 Americas column on America's failure to confront
Colombian terrorists properly portrays the carnage wrought by FARC in its
civil war. The contributions caused by our prohibition on coca and other
"controlled substances" is, however, given short shrift. Indeed, it is FARC
itself that benefits most by this prohibition.

The war on drugs and its extreme manifestation, mandatory minimum
sentences, have incarcerated many nonviolent drug users at great expense
and done little to stem the demand. Our corrections departments themselves
seem incapable of keeping drugs out of prisons. So long as the war on drugs
targets minorities and the poor (and stays "off campus"), support among
policy makers remains high. Indeed, after Gov. Jeb Bush's daughter was
caught with cocaine at her drug treatment facility, prison was still not an
option.

Our government went from prosecuting gambling to promoting it (lotteries)
in little more than a generation. Perhaps when the revenue potential of
"controlled substances" is recognized, there will be a similar change of heart.

For Frederic Bastiat, the 19th-century French economist, governmental
coercion was legitimate only if it served "to guarantee security of person,
liberty, and property rights, to cause justice to reign over all." Who
defines what constitutes our "pursuit of happiness"?

Paul H. Duggan
Bryan, Ohio