STAUNCH ALLY STARTING TO QUESTION DRUG WAR

I keep seeing the daily (hourly?) advertisments by the Office of National
Drug Control Policy claiming that drug money supports terrorism and have
always wondered, "What if there were no drug war?" Now, it seems, others
are asking that same question.

Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., has been one of the drug war's staunchest allies
for the last 30 years, but in a recent hearing where the CIA was asking for
more money to combat heroin production in Colombia, he asked the question
again. Even more surprising was his query as to "Why, when we throw more
money at this problem, do we end up with more illegal drugs in the U.S.?"

For those of you terrified that a new era of freedom has started to emerge,
don't fret - our government has called upon the prosecutors of this land to
step up their attacks on marijuana users. Apparently, our status of being
No. 1 in the world for imprisoning its citizens is being challenged by
someone, somewhere, so going after the pot smokers will solidify our
ranking. Besides, the prison industry is only No. 2 in this state. Surely
we have a couple of billion extra to make it No. 1.

Ken Gorman

Denver